Existentialism In Coates Between The World And Me

In his book, he notes “that white supremacy was so foundational to this country that it would not be defeated in my lifetime, my child’s lifetime, or perhaps ever” (Coates, We Were Eight Years in Power 159). Mr Coates argues that the United Staes is a country in which white supremacy is an unconquerable force that will continue to exists, and black Americans will have to perpetually deal with it. His account paints a very dark and bleak imagery of the U.S.; he describes an American in which minorities have limited access to the American dream because of the color of their skin. In a very famous line, he writes “I had thought that I must mirror the outside world, create a carbon copy of white claims to civilization. It was beginning to occur to me to question the logic of the claim itself ” (Coates, Between the World and Me 50). As young man, Coates believes he naively believed in the American dream, a product he as now come to view as “white claims to civilization” and only until he matured did he understand how the dream was unobtainable in full, by blacks.

This theme helps illuminate how black people came to be treated in America both when slavery existed and beyond into today’s society. The theme that black people are disposable bodies within American society. Because of the tradition of treating black people as objects or whose value strictly came from their ability to make profit, the idea of what it means to be black in America is imbedded in the danger of losing one’s body. Although slavery has ended, the racism remains as a violence inflicted on black people’s bodies. Coates is more than happy to emphasize that racism is an instinctive practice.

Coates explains in detail how angry it makes him to know his race is worthless in a society were the dominant ones will always make them feel worthless. The labels “black” and “white” hold a sense of worth towards an individual which classifies them as powerless or powerful. Inequality will remain an issue due to those who seem careless for change. Change as a whole is impossible to occur when only a few are fighting for equality, which is why Coates shows no hope for the black community throughout his writing. What makes Coates writing unique is the fact that everything he brings up is related to his own experience living in the ghetto, having to struggle, and trying to survive the inequalities he is faced with day to day. (word

Writings throughout history show people from different backgrounds, experiences, and beliefs fighting for the same cause, the rights of African Americans which were stripped from them during the 16th century until the late 19th century. In “They had a dream,” by Jules Archer, the stories of four very different people are joined together by their pursuit of freedom as they viewed the inequality against African Americans.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, a writer for The Atlantic, discusses in a memoir addressed to his son about remembering the past and the current challenges of being African-American in the excerpt from Between The World and Me. He expresses that the struggles of the past should not be forgotten because it has carried over to contemporary times with African-Americans continuing to not be able to own their bodies. Coates claims that a struggle has existed among black people since the days of slavery. He expresses the importance of remembering the African slaves is that they were people; individuals, and too often, they are thrown into one group together instead of being thought of who they were as a person. Their lives are a central part of African-American

Ta-Nehisi Coates starts off this section of the book by explaining the history of blacks in America to his son during the Civil War era. He describes how essentially an entire war began over slavery. African American bodies were the richest resource in America at the time, even more than American industry, and thus, the valued resource was the main dispute and motive for the Civil War. Coates writes, “In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body- it is heritage” (103). The reason why blacks are terrified to live in their bodies today is primarily due to the treatment of black individuals in the past. American history is rooted in us all, and continues to influence society. Coates further describes how slavery was extremely bloody

Coates explains to his son about the perils of being black in America and the social injustices that occur within such as looting and violence. Coates calls to the reader’s

In today’s America, there are still people in America who wholeheartedly believe that Black people are inferior to White. This isn’t news to anyone. America’s history has always been characterized by racial divisions and painted with colored blood. Since America’s founding, “The People” never truly meant all people. But it’s 2017. Slavery has been abolished for more than 150 years. Segregation and Jim Crow were outlawed in the 60’s. However, growing up Black in America today is defined by fear of being attacked for simply existing. There is still an invisible line carved by prejudice and bigotry that divides the races, that limits the ability for Black people to become successful or achieve what Coates refers to as “The Dream”. Together,

Science tell us that everything that we as humans do comes from a basic need to survive, and this tells us that the desire to live, or the fear of death is one of the most primal things that every person feels. In America, this primal desire to survive is what governs African American men in their daily life as a result of the constant fear that their bodies will be taken from them in an act of violence. In Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehsi Coates writes about the state of black bodies in America, focusing on the racial violence and harassment that black men face on a daily basis, in the form of a letter to his son. It is clear that the black man’s existence in America is established by this ever-present fear of death due to the fact that their bodies and their general existence is so policed through social subjugation and institutionalized violence. Moreover, he explains that the white identity is constructed in comparison to black existence, and in order to keep white identity as supreme, America allows for the continuous physical attack and constant disenfranchisement of African Americans. Evidence from the text will show that Coates’s combines personal experience with beautifully rhythmic prose in order to make it clear to the reader the ways in which the African American existence is controlled and dictated in America. It also clarifies how this is done through the ever-present threat of violence, and that the reason this policing takes place is to solidify whiteness

Coates makes the attempt to explain his idea of racism in America and the prejudice he has faced as a young, black male. He formats his book as a letter for his son who will face many of these same struggles in the future. I agree with Coates, to an extent, on the problems minority communities often face (most often the black community). A huge critique, though, is that Coates describes his struggles as “pure racism” and often judges that all “Dreamers” as the proprietors of the problems he sees. This is insulting and takes away from his main argument. “Pure racism” has not existed in this country in decades. No one can be denied access to any public entity, job, park, water

The world is a simple place, but often at times, it seems more complicated than it really is. People exist in a world where others do not know about them because the world is so big. Existentialism is the belief that a person creates one’s self with the influence of external factors. However, more importantly, it is how a person is able to cope with these factors that allow a person to live their life. Existentialism is a key factor that is prominent throughout the story. The main characters in the book Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, are all influenced by outside factors that include a pregnancy substitute to make babies and pre-plan their futures, living in a controlled environment and by making the citizens live in a constant hallucination of “happiness”.

Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech highlights the hallmark of his activist role regarding the black race. He talks about the injustice towards black people and that he hopes discrimination comes to an end. Furthermore, he makes it clear that black and white people have intertwined destinies. Therefore, in order to achieve freedom, they must together “march ahead” and never “turn back” (King 3). King refuses to accept gradual change, he wants immediate change, equality, and freedom. Moving on to the 21st Century, Ta-Nehisi Coates takes matters into his own hands when he writes the piece “Letter to My Son” in order to inform the people about the predicaments black people have faced. He talks about how the white Americans live a luxurious dream, a dream that wouldn’t have been achieved without the ‘bodies’ of

The Songs sited in each chapter of this book was put together to deliberately guide the reader’s thought process in scrutinizing the context to identify with DuBois of how these events described effected black people during this change in our history. Each example was directly associated with the subsequent chapter and solidified the arguments from DuBois’ perspective. It was very clear that the deliberate selection of the songs segments and the essays themselves; that from DuBois’ perspective, the Black People had not been given the appropriate opportunities, education and resources to be successful but rather given a freedom that was inferior to their slavery.

Existentialism is a very broad subject in which there are many philosophers who have studied it and what it means. Some of whom are Franz Kafka, Soren Kierkegaard, and Friedrich Nietzsche. They all had specific views on life and what it means. The characters that we read, and watch show some of the aspects of this philosopher's ideas on existentialism. Claudius shows Kafka’s idea that all actions will come back and hurt you somehow. Ophelia shows Sorens idea of that love is all, it gives, and it takes all. Phil Connors shows Nietzsche’s idea that you should do the right thing in life.This is how I believe that each character represents the philosopher's idea.

The dream was made with restrictions and only a certain race can completely accomplish it. In the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Douglass receives a letter from William Lloyd Garrison, founder of the American Anti-Slavery, about a speech Douglass gave to an audience of abolitionist in the North. The American Dream for the black body was to escape to the North to be free; however, the “peril which surrounded this self-emancipated young man at the North” is meant to remind us that the danger isn’t over for Douglass (Douglass IX) Even in the North, where he was free, Douglass could still be kidnapped by his former owners and taken back to the South to be a slave again. In the past, the American Dream for the black body was to be free and for the whites it was to buy as many slaves possible. Today, the American Dream is still different for people but it is not about slaves. The “American Dream” is to live in a suburban house, have barbeques, and prosperity. In Between the World and Me, Coates realized the American Dream is not meant for everyone. He thought that he must “mirror the outside world, create a carbon copy of white claims to civilization. It … [occurred] to me to question the logic of the claim itself” because the emblems of the Dream are not necessarily worth coveting (Coates 50). This dream is impossible for people with black body to fully obtain, and moreover, it is flawed and false dream anyway. It argues that trying to be like white people was not something aspire to do because it changes the person to be ignorant. The American perception of the black body is to give them a false sense of hope that one day they are going to be able to have prosperity and