A Reader Response to 'Between The World and Me' by Ta-nehisi Coates

America was based on racism, driven by the work of slaves, which allowed “white people” to live the “dream”. Over a century after the 13th amendment ended slavery, African American people were still being oppressed, dismissed to ghettos and jailed in masses or murdered. As this continues to happen, is starts to become normal and people turn a blind eye. In the book Between the World and Me, author Ta-Nehisi Coates writes a letter to his son about the issues of the American dream, racism, and white privilege in order to teach his son to survive in this world. It is not only relevant to the African American targets of oppression in today’s society but any individual who identifies as a minority that can relate to Coates on a deeper level. 

Traditionally the American dream referred to this country being built on the foundation of liberty and equality. The American dream is the belief that anyone, regardless of where they were born or what class they were born into, can achieve success in society. Instead the book Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates adds its own twist to the American Dream. For the author, he emphasizes that this country was built by the exploitation and oppression of African American people. The people who built this country, built it on violence and thieving. They stole the black bodies of men and woman only to degrade them as property, selling and forcing them to be slaves. That these same “American people” created this concept that race is real and exist in the natural world. But Coates is trying to get us to understand that Americans have created a whole culture based on the idea of “race”, a false structure that has damaged our society in great numbers, but in which has the most impact on African Americans. The American Dream is universal in that everyone hopes for a positive and equal experience but in reality, “the dream” victimizes people to be what it is today. 

Ta-Nehisi Coates awakens his readers to the belief that America is not this great free country it is made out to be and how unaware people could be to it. He used metaphors to express this in his writing. Many like I, can agree when he says, “America believes itself exceptional, the greatest and noblest nation to ever exist, a lone champion standing between the white city of democracy and the terrorists, despots, barbarians and other enemies of civilization”. America puts itself on a pedestal and thinks highly of itself standing as if it were a champion and nothing can compare to it because it is so grand. Coates expresses how untrue that is because of how many people suffer from inequality in America. He states, “the Dream rests on our backs, the bedding made from our bodies.” The use of personification by Coates, added more character to the context which in return allowed me to understand his perspective on a deeper level. I felt as though I was also carrying the weight of the American heritage on my back. The dream is the root of racist issues and the actions of the people following the American legacy. 

The only time Coates felt as though he belonged was when he went to Howard University. He was part of “the Mecca”, it was a diverse community of educated African American people. This is where Coates truly found inspiration and although he did not graduate from Howard University, the legacy of the Mecca stays with him throughout his life. At his time at Howard University he experiences a vast feeling of “black empowerment”. He learned what it meant to be “black” and to fully understand the concept of being “black” through history and also the teachings of great leaders like Malcolm X. This was also his first lessons about the relationship of violence and being black which influenced him as a writer. He even goes as far as naming his son Samori, named after Samori Tour’e, who fought against French colonizers for the right to his own black body. In Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates he writes about the violence he fears everyday living as a “black man” in this American community. 

Coates, as a theme all through the book, examines “the black man” being degraded to a simple body, a physicality. The same degradation existed in slavery and now it exists in the acts of police brutality incidents. The prejudice displayed in the days of slavery has been implanted into the “white man” today. He speaks about his fears as a black male because no matter what he did, his body could be destroyed for any reason. The blame would still be put on him because the color of his skin. This fear was implemented on him by older generations as a child and by being a witness to the racial injustices going on in society. He describes how the same people that are meant to serve and protect us, hurt and murder black bodies. 

Coates uses powerful examples to convey his fear to his readers. He chooses to name real victims of race-related murders like Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin including a good friend of his, Prince Jones, but the list does not stop there. He feared one day his sons name would be part of that list. I was able to relate to him as a parent because Coates creates this personable piece as a letter to his son. For one day, I too will warn my children of similar injustices. This letter is to unfortunately let Samori know that this is how things were and there was nothing that could be done about it when he says” And you know now, if you did not before, that the police departments of our country have been endowed with the authority to destroy your body.” It can make one feel angry and sad which makes his use of pathos effective. Coates describes the police shooting of his friend Prince Jones in careful detail; leaving the reader saddened but more so by the commonality of race related murders such as his all over the country. Regardless of the incidents he does not blame the officer that killed Prince Jones, “All you need to understand is that the officer carries with him the power of the American Stare and the weight of an American legacy...”. They only abide by the “rules” implemented onto them throughout American history which separated us by skin tone and hue. Regardless of the way Coates grew up, with the amount of fear he endured every day, and the amount of police brutality going on; he just wanted his son to be able to live freely, without race defining him. Later on, Coates describes his trip to Paris and how he realized in that moment that he was “alive”. For so long all he knew was Baltimore, where he was tied to a particular race and tied to the oppression they suffered but in Paris he felt he was finally his own person. There was a world outside of racism, outside of race. He later returned to Paris with his wife and son, but the main reason he returned was for his son to experience this life altering feeling of peace away from the fear. Coates admired his sons dreams and goals because that was something more than he had while he was a child. In that instant he realized that Samori Coates was not going to grow up the way he did. His son will be his own person and live his own life instead of having to watch his back or live with the idea that someone else had the power to destroy his body. 

To understand the full content of Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates the reader needs to read the text carefully because there is great detail and stories the author tells within his book. As a reader I came to the realization that the author was not only warning his son about the injustices he may face in life but also to advising him to allow himself to live freely without fear. Coates was ashamed that he was implanting the same fear onto his son, Samori, that he carried everywhere he went. I felt the emotion when he says, “And I am now ashamed of the thought, ashamed of my fear, of the generational chains I tried to clasp onto your wrist.” We as a society tend to repeat history and with Coates persuasive way of using imagery dialect, he opens our eyes to what’s wrong in our culture and history. 

Ta-Nehisi Coates is structured in his writing and makes great use of emotion. I was able to feel his anger and his pain. I imagined the scenes and characters as they developed through the story. His effective way of writing opens the eyes of many people who fall underneath the category as “dreamers”. For they are able to step in his shoes and see the issues through his lens. As a mother, a person of color currently living that fear today I am able to connect to the book on a personal level. I too, carry this fear for my kids every day and one day I will need to warn them of the discrimination they will face in society. Many people will find this book difficult to read because Coates is brutally honest about what is going on in our society today. It is basic human survival instinct to turn the other way when something isn’t right but the message, I discovered was to face it head on. Coates points out that corruption is behind the country not the people and it starts off the foundation of “the dream”.