The World And Me Essay - 1231 Words

Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me is in essence about the rigors inflicted on people of color, and specifically black people, by America. His work goes on in depth about the challenges black people face in America, the communities and the world view they grow up in. Coates’ work is masterful at boiling down and explaining the problems that people of color face, from the outright racism of a brutal police force to subtler forms of similarly dangerous discrimination in the classroom, in politics, and in the media. He couches these acts as â€Å"†¦violence, upon the body.†(21), talking about how even the smaller forms of discrimination all boil down to violence against black people. By simplifying these acts to what they truly are, he makes the it more visceral and direct, cutting right to the source with great effect. Through this discussion about the black body, we learn about how it is endangered, how this endangerment takes form, and what it means to try and protect the black body. Over the years great strides have been made against racism, but by no means is that fight over. Racism moved from shackles and Jim Crow laws to new, insidious forms that still work just as hard to keep people of color down. As racism was fought harder and harder it adapted in order to survive, now it’s evident in things like police brutality, the war on drugs, and media bias, things that the white American public can misunderstand or brush under the rug. As Coates said,† Very few AmericansShow MoreRelatedThe World And Me910 Words   |  4 PagesAt the time that I am writing you this letter, horrendous things are happening to the black community, these things got me thinking about you and your future. Just like the novel Between The World and Me, Coates wrote a letter to his son and the world to enlighten them about the life in America and America true history. â€Å"I write to you in your fifteenth year. I am writing you because this was the year you saw Eric Gardner c hocked to death for selling cigarettes, because you know that Renisha McBrideRead MoreThe World And Me1586 Words   |  7 PagesMany authors’ viewpoints have been observed so far, ranging from Plato’s Republic written centuries before the common era, to Ta Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me. Though these books span millennia and hemispheres, they all display what is important to their authors, and from this information we can try to extrapolate their political viewpoints, especially where it falls in the lunacy of the 2016 election. The authors Plato, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Karl Marx had perhaps the most politically-chargedRead MoreThe World Around Me1422 Words   |  6 Pagesalso perhaps by apprehension. In a way, I feared that further investigation would upset my personal ambitions. I will try and define some of the issues and dilemmas that I think we are facing. I will start with the simple observation of the world around me. I feel like everything is a big race with no clear finishing line. In fact, the goalpost is simply the runner in front of you and there is no runner who is ahead of the race because there is no extrinsic finishing line to measure his progressRead MoreRacism And The World And Me1455 Words   |  6 Pagesâ€Å"The Most† Known Unknown in the World Racism has been and always will be a form of segregation concurrently and in the history of humanity. From Ancient times to current, the status of segregation by any means of oppression privy of power, wealth, and prestige has been as second nature as drinking water. While Coates has his own perspective of reality and its structure, it’s interesting that a so called genius had taken almost 30 years to finally see the true nature of â€Å"the beast† he frequented.Read MoreThe World And Me States932 Words   |  4 Pagesthe course of institutionalizing their rule.† (2004 p. 192) Silverblatt termed the creation of new categories based on the skin color and parental ancestry racial thinking, a form of thought modernity still has not escaped. Coates’ Between the World and Me states, â€Å"Difference in hue and hair is old. But the belief in the preeminence of hue and hair, the notion that these factors can correctly organize a society and that they signify de eper attributes which are indelible-this is the new idea at theRead MoreThe World Of 1984 Scared Me1442 Words   |  6 PagesTotal surveillance. Complete obedience. Absolute authority. The world of 1984 scared me when I first read the book last year. Never before had a book made me think so deeply about individuality, society, and government. 1984, a manifestation of my nightmares, described a totalitarian police state of resolute submission. The horror came when I looked upon our own society, and Big Brother glared back at me. We live in a world where every phone call, every text, every search, and every email can beRead MoreAnalysis Of Between The World And Me 1430 Words   |  6 PagesBetween the World and Me â€Å"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 afraidRead MoreComparison Between The World And Me1664 Words   |  7 PagesJesus Leon Santos Professor Collins Writing 37 05 February 2016 Between the World and Me 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 whiteRead MoreAnalysis Of Between The World And Me, 2088 Words   |  9 Pages In Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Between the World and Me, Coates seeks to educate his young son and in turn the reader of his experience as an African American man in the United States. In this, racism becomes a very prominent and complex theme. In some way racism impacted every facet of his life. The novel highlights the drastic difference in the ability for curiosity and personal development and questioning in his public education in a poor area versus his continued education at Howard University aRead MoreAnalysis Of Between The World And Me And Me By Ta Nehisi Coates 1297 Words   |  6 PagesRosa Parks once said, â€Å"Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully we shall overcome.† Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Coates writes a letter to his son explaining what his life was like growing up in America as an African American man, and he also tries to give his son some moral advice on how to take charge of living as a man in a black body. Spike Lee directs a film on Malcolm X, who was a black activist and a leader