The World And Me Is Ta Nehisi Coates ' Book Review Essay

America is seen as the country of liberty and equality; however, internal conflicts ruin such perceptions of America. Ta-Nehisi Coates writes about an American internal conflict of racial inequality in his open letter “Letter to My Son”, which was published by The Atlantic on July 4th in reference to Independence Day. He claims that the American Dream that many citizens strive for is creating a racial gap in socio-economic equality. Throughout Coates’s open letter to his son, Coates uses his ethos appeal as an educated individual and pathos appeal as a loving father in order to build up his convincing argument of African-American inequality and to appeal to his intended audience, who are parents of all ethnicities; however, his lack of logos and use of situational experiences weakens his argument due to the lack of compatibility with his intended audience.

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.

Ta-Nehisi Coates describes the American Dream as, “It is the perfect houses with nice lawns. It is Memorial Day cookouts, block associations, and driveways. The Dream is treehouses and Cub Scouts. The Dream smells like strawberry shortcake.” In Between the World and Me Ta-Nehisi Coates teaches his son, Samori not feel like he has to be like the Dreamers because they will have to find themselves out of the Dream by going through the struggle which they’ve created. He also says the Dream is mainly for rich white people and those people who believe in the Dream are called the Dreamers. Coates argues that the “Dream” is to have the perfect white, wealthy life and the “Dreamers” are the white people who believe in the “Dream”.

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 US is appealing in the eyes of other countries, and even ourselves, because of the “free” and “equal” characteristics we claim ourselves to have, such as: freedom of religion, freedom to own private property, and freedom of equal justice. However, in the eyes of an African America, Atlantic Monthly Journalist, we see that all of these freedoms find a loophole when it comes to the black community. In Ta-Nehisi Coates’ book Between the World and Me, he writes from a political, yet deeply personal standpoint to analyze today’s version of racism. Coates strays away from his usual journalist works to a more deeper and personal view. His book is devoted to his fifteen-year-old son, Samori, and provides him with guidance through the struggle of racism; all while letting Samori fend for himself. Coates’ lets his son know all this through history, and heritage; of his own and of America’s.

In a time where racism is a dirty word, and is thought by many to be a thing of the past, Between the World and Me goes above and beyond to obliterate misconceptions that racism is not a constant presence in today’s America. It’s easy to deny the presence of racism throughout America’s history when it hasn’t directly affected you, but Ta-Nehisi Coates brings it to the surface in a way that makes it impossible to ignore.

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.

Between the World and Me has been called a book about race, but the author argues that race itself is a flawed, if anything, nothing more than a pretext for racism. Early in the book he writes, “Race, is the child of racism, not the father.” The idea of race has been so important in the history of America and in the self-identification of its people and racial designations have literally marked the difference between life and death in some instances. How does discrediting the idea of race as an immutable, unchangeable fact changes the way we look at our history? Ourselves? In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and the current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of “race,” a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men—bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Ta-Nehisi Coates’s attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son. Coates shares with his son—and readers—the story of his awakening to the truth about his place in the

Between the World and Me is a 2015 book written by Howard graduate, Ta-Nehisi Coates. Coates frames the book in the form of a letter to his young son, Satori, who is just 15 years of age at the time that the work is published. Coates’ primary purpose for writing the book is to educate his son on the struggles that come along with being a black being in America. The book was written in the midst of the deaths of black males such as Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice. It is the lack of appreciation for the African American body that inspires Coates to write this emotional, eye-opening letter to his son and American society.

In Between the World and Me, African American author Ta-Nehisi Coates addresses his son regarding how to deal with the relationship between white America and his own life, as the two constantly conflict, according to Coates. During my reading of this book, I found that Coates had a very interesting perspective regarding this discussion. Coates uses the terms “the Dreamers” to refer to racist white people, and “the Dream” to refer to the image of white America; these serve as a threat to the existence of the black community. I could feel the vigor his passion through his intricate language and his blunt tone; I can respect his forthright, unapologetic narrative, despite the fact that I find some of his rhetoric slightly radical. Based upon the influences he’s had, the environments he’s lived in, and the experiences he’s had, his point of views are reasonable; his perspective is worth listening to in this discussion. Reading Between the World and Me specifically helped to deepen my understanding of racial disparity as a result of institutional racism.

“Black students were expelled at three times the rate of white students.” (Steven Hsieh, 2014) Until now, we are still finding unequal treatment from school in American Society from different aspects, such as school discipline, early learning, college readiness and teacher equity. However, education is more than learning from books. Education enables individuals potential to utilize human mind and open doors of opportunities to obtain knowledge. But the US educational system doesn’t serve the majority of children properly and gaps remain between white and black students. What’s more, nowadays, a lot of schools only treat education as a curriculum and test scores; ignoring the stimulus of curiosity. Therefore, “Between the World and Me” is a book written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, who weaves his own personal, historical, and intellectual development into his ruminations on how to live in a black body in America. In this book, Coates writes about education and pleasures of his own educational experience in Howard University. Although bad education hides the truth and restricts students’ ideas, education also contains pleasures, which broaden people’s mind, help people build their own thoughts, and prevent people from prison. As a result, there are more pleasures in American education that positively impact on black body than dangers.

In the book, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, he focused on the fear young black boys have growing up in America today. Along with discussing how it makes him feel about the Society he lives in. He emphasized the effectiveness of police in America overall and uses reference to slavery. Which reminds me of Goffman premises of symbolic interactions. How individuals in society just adopt to their surroundings. Although just because a person adapts, their inner thoughts and feelings of growing up afraid or even being one to see torture or detainment for no reason but knowing you have no power to change what seems to be a cycle. Also Pierre Bourdieu concepts of, “ social space and Genesis of groups” relates to Coates focus because he argues that, “ individuals can be defined by their position in the space they are involved in”. For example, when Coates the mistreatment done on young black boys by police officers, whom are suppose to be their as a protector of the citizens but continues to misuse their intended purpose within the position.

Police brutality is a major issue in today’s society. Many African Americans tend to avoid the police for that very reason. A campaign was started in 2012 against police brutality and the unfair treating of African Americans entitled, Black Lives Matter. This movement was met with controversy as well as support from the American people. This movement has followed several controversial police brutality cases in the United States including, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and Sandra Bland. All African American and all killed in the presence of a police officer, with no convictions. These three cases have been some of the biggest cases in the Black Lives Matter campaign. This campaign is determined to make sure that Black lives are treated just as equally as white live and Hispanic lives, because black lives matter

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.