The Black Body, America 's Captivation With The Dream

Black people still call America their home, even though they are consistently discriminated against. Consistently hated on because of how they look like. Black people have been viewed as trouble, suspicious, no good, and will never be anything respectable (Goldberg 2). When young black children cannot be protected from this everyday, so they adapted to this way of life and was to never believe otherwise. Racism and discrimination limit not only black people, but everyone of color. People of color believe they will never be like a white man because of all the advantages a white man has. However, people like Benjamin Banneker, Kenneth Clark, and Toni Morrison are showing their skin color does not relate to their success or intelligence (Goldberg 3). These people are showing how even with all the injustice in America, they were still able to be successful. It is not about what the color of one’s skin is, it is about the mindset and perspective of each

Between the World and Me, written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, is written as a letter to his son about realities associated with being black in the United States of America. His tone is somewhat poetic and quite bleak, based on his personal experiences. The book is intense, it is an address to a nation that ignores its own blatant history of racism, a nation that does not prosecute police officers who kill innocent black citizens, a nation that supports a policy of mass incarceration. He writes about growing up in Baltimore, Maryland and details the ways in which institutions (school, police, and the streets) discipline, endanger, and threaten to harm black men and women. Between the World and Me is an intimate confession of the fears of a black American father.

“Between the World and Me”, by Ta-Nehisi Coates, is a letter written to his son about what it means to be black and how tough it is to be a part of this race in the United States of America. In this book, Coates talks about his life in the black community, starting from childhood memories all the way to present day. Coates also tries sends a message, which is that his son should not lower his guard and be completely confident about who he is, instead he should be afraid about what the world is capable of doing to a black man. In this work, Coates disagrees on what it means to be black or white in America.

McCrae’s “ America Gives Its Blackness Back To Me” is a clear and a standard example of the Petrarchan sonnet form. This is poem is Petrarchan sonnet form by the use of the fourteen lines and the flexible rhyme scheme. Just like in a traditional Petrarchan Sonnet form this poem has the sections broken up into an octave and a sestet. Also, another thing I noticed was how McCrea doesn’t use periods so it’s like one long statement that doesn’t officially end, and with some of lines there is an extra space between certain words like, “ I” and “ was” and “ “I” and “ should” just to give a few examples. McCrea use of structure of stanzas and enjambment really emphasizes the use of how he just wants to have his “Blackness” again and regaining back the power that took his “Blackness” away.

In part one of “Between the World and Me,” Coates gives constant examples on how the black community deals with the loss of their bodies and violence on the daily. He makes his argument by being brutally honest. He does not hold back when talking on the subject, making the reader feel somewhat convicted after reading. He uses the element of right timing throughout part one to show how intense racism still is.

The novel starts with Coates addressing his son, Samori.He begins recounting a time when he was invited on a talk show and the host asked him what it meant to lose his body, looking for an explanation as to why Coates “felt that white America’s progress, or rather the progress of those Americans who believe that they are white, was built on looting and violence.” This turned out to be a very heavy, intense, and loaded question. Coates went on to explain to his son that America was built on the oppression, abuse, and exploitation of black people, of their bodies, which only intensifies the hypocrisy of the democratic foundation that America prides itself on. The recent murders of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Renisha McBride, and other black people and “the destroyers who were rarely held accountable” prove that the disregard and mutilation of black bodies is embedded in America’s DNA, and no one gives it a second thought. The American “dream” that is built on the purity and innocence of wanting happiness was only ever made plausible by the oppression of black people, who still struggle to achieve that dream because they were abused into a life of silence and fear. “The Dream rests on their backs, the bedding made from their bodies.” Coates went on to explain how this history of exploitation and the fear that’s been rooted into the lives of black people in America followed him throughout his schooling and on the streets of his neighborhood. The schools that he was sent to discouraged black children, rather than encouraging growth and facilitating a healthy learning environment. The streets were carefully orchestrated for self defense. You had to protect yourself, because you knew the law wouldn’t. At Howard University, “the Mecca”, the excitement of witnessing the diversity that flooded the

The book Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a poignant reminder that the battle for equality is still ongoing for African Americans, and that the average black reality is rife with perils, which could easily lead to the destruction of life or liberty. In the wake of the recent string of deaths involving unarmed African American citizens by the hands of local law enforcement, Coates presents his narrative in the style of a letter to his son. Writing in the form of a letter offers a deeper sense of intimacy both with its perceived intended subject (Coates’s son) and the reader. The intimacy expressed through this narrative style denotes Coates’s own intense emotions to the reader regarding race in America. In this way, Coates offers a view that is authentic, humanistic, and emotionally charged contrary to just being an omniscient narrator.

“The soul was the body that fed the tobacco, and the spirit was the blood that watered the cotton, and these created the first fruits of the American garden” (Coates 104). In Between the World and Me,” and within this quote alone, Ta-Nehisi Coates argued not only the importance of black identity, but also how and why black identity was so deceivingly shaped in response to the dark history behind it. Through Coates’ recollections and fair warnings to his son, the relationship between black identity and “The Dream” becomes clearer. In spite of the “white supremacist” trademark that comes stamped upon “The Dream,” Coates provides impermeable evidence as to why black identity is not only more invested in history than white identity, but more importantly why it is the investment to be made in “The American Dream.”

Ta-Nehisi Coates had one clear purpose in writing this novel, Between the World and Me: to teach his son what it means to be a black man. He shows him the fear that young black men feel, the history of slavery and black oppression, as well as his own personal experiences with being influenced by Malcolm X. He also shares with him the joy he feels about getting an education and learning of more ways to be black. He also shared with him the story of Prince Jones’ murder and how his mother’s pride in her son after his death was so important. In this novel, Coates uses the archetype of the journey and the teacher to further his message and bring life to his work.

Between the World and Me is a long letter that Ta-Nehisi Coates writes to his teenage son, Samori. Coates uses history and past experiences to express to his son how America does not value the black man’s body. Coates starts by telling of what it was like for him growing up in Baltimore. How he saw black men dress and carry themselves in attempts to possess themselves and power. He then talks about the awakening of his black consciousness at Howard University. Howard is where he first started learning about the contributions of black people in American history. He also was introduced to a variety of different types of black people. Howard is also where Coates experienced the death of a close friend, Prince Jones, that catapults the most powerful message in his novel; The American Dream is an insidious idea glorified by whites and the media that was built on the marginalization of black people.

Between the World and Me examines the history and present circumstances of racial inequality and segregation in America. Coates directs the book to Samori to give his audience personal insight into the various stages of a black man’s life. From his childhood, to his college experience, to his complicated role as a father, Coates gradually unfolds a critical account of the relationship between black and white communities. He calls those who “believe themselves to be white” the “Dreamers” and criticizes them for the indifference toward black people 's experiences. He wants the audience to reflect upon themselves and realize that they are part of the problem.

This statement is decently accurate until the part where he says “all their own” for there are external factors which should be taken into consideration. Such as the coping mechanisms that come into play due to living with a struggle of everyday survival and how it is more than an adaptation of values that is passed through cultural transmission. Rather that it is a reaction from each black generation experiencing the same social challenges, such as racism or lack of job offerings, due to beliefs put into place long ago affecting current social class

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun encompasses all the ideals of the American Dream through her characters: Walter, who embodies the quest for an opportunity for prosperity, Beneatha who wants the freedom to be herself and embrace her African heritage, and Lena (Mama) who buys a home in a white neighborhood pushing the boundaries of social mobility during that time. The Youngers are in a state of poverty, because of this as suggested by Lloyd Brown “their deprivations expose the gap between the American Dream and the Black American reality” (241). However the Youngers attempt to close this gap, challenging the status quo in an effort to better themselves.

In today’s media, bodies of color, particularly black female bodies, are underrepresented and poorly represented by stereotypical images that are constructed by patriarchy and white supremacy. When stereotypes are distinctly visible and exposed in the media, they tend to be easily adopted by individuals, even though they are untrue. These stereotypes are quite problematic because they stand in for actual knowledge and real life experience. White supremacy is used as framework to contextualize Western ways of thinking of how we understand the knowledge presented about bodies of color. Mass media is a system of knowledge and power reproducing that attempts to maintain white supremacy by oppressing people of color, particularly women of color. In this paper, l will explore how hegemonic tropes of knowledge have been presented historically and how they are reinforced through representations in the media.

I like to read stories that are realistic so the one connection that I make between this work and others that I have read in the past is that it doesn’t cover up the fact that black people have had to make due with the hand they were dealt. There is no happy ending but the