Letter To Son Rhetorical Analysis

In June 2015, The Atlantic published an article with, acclaimed author, journalist, and social/political activist, Ta-Nehisi Coates that addresses Black men about the social injustices in America and how opportunities differ based upon race in a segment called “Letter To Son”. Coates develops a feeling of sympathy throughout his article about Black men and women in America and how much they have suffered. Coates also makes it a point to show that the foundation of America has a great deal to do with the abuse of the mind, body, and spirit of Black people. Coates adopts a firm and passionate tone to address the social injustices that setbacks Black men in America. Coates uses pathos and anaphora to illustrate the survival of a Black person in America whose past in based on slavery and murder. In the passage, Coates is describing what the enslavement of Black people was and what it looked like to others: “Random manglings, gashing of heads and brains...must be rape…” (Coates 33). Coates is shedding light on the type of things that happened to Black people during slavery and what it feels like to them. Saying it must feel like rape shows how defenseless …show more content…
In the passage, Coates is talking about what was taken from Black people during slavery, for example “It had to be blood...It had to be the thrashing of kitchen hands…” (Coates 34). He repeatedly uses the phrase “It had to be” to emphasize the relentlessness of the abuse of the Black body. The determination that people had to continue to overuse every component that Black people had to offer, against their will, is shown here. The author’s message regarding the subject is that a lot was taken from Black people. Anaphora is used again in the passage where Coates is referring to what is done to the spirit and body of Black people. “The soul was the body...the spirit was the blood” (Coates