Between the World and Me is a book written in 2015 by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Coates is an American writer, journalist, and educator. Coates has also written for the Atlantic and has been an advocate of many different cultural, social and political issue specifically those of the African American people. The book Between the world and Me is written as a talk of sorts between a black parent and his child . It is a preemptive conversation about the racism and injustice going on in society provoked by his son 's stunned reaction to the announcement that no charges would be brought against the Ferguson cop who killed Michael Brown. It also about a father teaching his son the history of what it is meant to grow up black in America.
Firstly, the book/letter …show more content…
Coates also tells his son: “Here is what I would like for you to know: In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body it is heritage.” Coates calls to attention how the black body or in simpler terms the African American has been taken physically, spiritually, mentally and every other aspect that makes one human. He talks about how "At the onset of the civil war, our stolen bodies were worth four billion dollars, more than all of the American industry, all of the American railroads, workshops and factories combined, and the prime product rendered by our stolen bodies – cotton – was America’s primary export." We were used are lively hood and freedom stolen to help create this great country we call America. Coates also talks about how although we tried to pretend as if the civil war was more than just about slavery many of us know the real reality "Here is the motive for the great war. It’s not a secret. But we can do better and find the bandit confessing his crime. “Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery,” declared Mississippi as it left the union, “the greatest material interest in the world.” In Coates letter to his son, he uses both his own black body and personal experience as evidence of the very real pain that the African American community has suffered. I think the message coaches trying to his son that …show more content…
That any black man’s body can be destroyed at any time, anywhere. It is a devastating realization and one that is echoed in his son Samori’s shock and tearful realization that he could also be Michael Brown. Coats trys to communicate his worries as a father to his son his. Coates intimate awareness of both of their fragility makes him afraid for his son. Coates understands and knows that his son may grow up privileged, educated, and behave himself in a respectable manner, but still fall prey to the racial injustice that surrounds American society. I think he wants both the reader and his son not be held back or become hateful towards the world in any way but it is also difficult to allow him or anyone to run headfirst into the world without understanding what it really is. He tells his son Samori "he will have to struggle because it is the only way to live an “honorable and sane life” (97).When reading a book like this you might expect a few inspirational words at the end of Coates’s letter to his son; however, the author does not have anything deep or inspirational for his son, in fact, it ends with a bleak image of him driving through the ghettos of Chicago in the rain. In the end, Coates advice to his son Samori and the reader is to struggle and be free as much
Firstly, the book/letter …show more content…
Coates also tells his son: “Here is what I would like for you to know: In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body it is heritage.” Coates calls to attention how the black body or in simpler terms the African American has been taken physically, spiritually, mentally and every other aspect that makes one human. He talks about how "At the onset of the civil war, our stolen bodies were worth four billion dollars, more than all of the American industry, all of the American railroads, workshops and factories combined, and the prime product rendered by our stolen bodies – cotton – was America’s primary export." We were used are lively hood and freedom stolen to help create this great country we call America. Coates also talks about how although we tried to pretend as if the civil war was more than just about slavery many of us know the real reality "Here is the motive for the great war. It’s not a secret. But we can do better and find the bandit confessing his crime. “Our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery,” declared Mississippi as it left the union, “the greatest material interest in the world.” In Coates letter to his son, he uses both his own black body and personal experience as evidence of the very real pain that the African American community has suffered. I think the message coaches trying to his son that …show more content…
That any black man’s body can be destroyed at any time, anywhere. It is a devastating realization and one that is echoed in his son Samori’s shock and tearful realization that he could also be Michael Brown. Coats trys to communicate his worries as a father to his son his. Coates intimate awareness of both of their fragility makes him afraid for his son. Coates understands and knows that his son may grow up privileged, educated, and behave himself in a respectable manner, but still fall prey to the racial injustice that surrounds American society. I think he wants both the reader and his son not be held back or become hateful towards the world in any way but it is also difficult to allow him or anyone to run headfirst into the world without understanding what it really is. He tells his son Samori "he will have to struggle because it is the only way to live an “honorable and sane life” (97).When reading a book like this you might expect a few inspirational words at the end of Coates’s letter to his son; however, the author does not have anything deep or inspirational for his son, in fact, it ends with a bleak image of him driving through the ghettos of Chicago in the rain. In the end, Coates advice to his son Samori and the reader is to struggle and be free as much