America has made its name with the dream, the American dream. It was the one with the white picket fence and the lush green lawn in front of the nice house, the nuclear family with a father, mother, son, daughter, and dog. In the 50’s, it was perceived as the land where one could struggle into success. In Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me, he encapsulates his story as an African American. He tells a story contrary to the dream. Today what laid beneath the savory and fake image of the 50’s is being vocalized because America has not escaped the problems that plagued citizens then. While America has failed to escape the racial prejudices arising from slavery, it has begun to pokes holes in what Coates claims allows this mentality to
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Now there is a push to return to that which was never real with the slogan “Make America great again” and Donald Trump’s run for the presidency. This need seems to contradict progress; however, Coates utilizes his novel to strip down the dream, stating that those that identify as “white” need to “renounce [their] demon religion”. Identifying as white implies a superiority to humanity and others. Coates offers the alternative of being “human”. The American dream was and is white; logically, therefore, it is a demon religion. He illustrates the harm of the dream, saying it relies on “exclusion” and “rests on [African American] backs”. While this may suggest that America is collectively at fault, his novel indicates a shift. It was received well and widely-recognized. The book discusses the inadequacy of conversation now, but it is a platform and serves as the beginning of one. The topic has sparked controversy and unrest in parts of civil America, indicating something brewing. This does not mean that racism has not been perpetuated in the United States, but it means that those who have participated by actively reading and thinking about his novel have recognized the dream. This inflated dream is starting to deflate because, one by one, individuals are opening their eyes to the truth of the
Now there is a push to return to that which was never real with the slogan “Make America great again” and Donald Trump’s run for the presidency. This need seems to contradict progress; however, Coates utilizes his novel to strip down the dream, stating that those that identify as “white” need to “renounce [their] demon religion”. Identifying as white implies a superiority to humanity and others. Coates offers the alternative of being “human”. The American dream was and is white; logically, therefore, it is a demon religion. He illustrates the harm of the dream, saying it relies on “exclusion” and “rests on [African American] backs”. While this may suggest that America is collectively at fault, his novel indicates a shift. It was received well and widely-recognized. The book discusses the inadequacy of conversation now, but it is a platform and serves as the beginning of one. The topic has sparked controversy and unrest in parts of civil America, indicating something brewing. This does not mean that racism has not been perpetuated in the United States, but it means that those who have participated by actively reading and thinking about his novel have recognized the dream. This inflated dream is starting to deflate because, one by one, individuals are opening their eyes to the truth of the