Please post your responses to Part I of Coates, Between the World and Me, below!
Freedom Riders 3/26
As I watched the “Freedom Riders” documentary, the more disgusted I become at that racial injustices in American history. At the beginning of the documentary, there is a small montage of bigots giving poor excuses as to why the South should remain segregated. However, there was one quote that stuck out that stated, “You can not change a way of life overnight. The more they try to force us into doing something, the worse the reaction is going to be.” Racism should not be a way of life anyone wants to live through or put onto someone else. The Freedom Riders and many nonviolent protesters weren’t physically imposing on others, so why was the reaction of segregationists to worsening as “they try to force” them into a realistic way of life? Watching the documentary and listening to how the Riders were willing to be martyrs for the Movement as they were physically attacked, their property was destroyed via molotov and mentally drained daily makes me appreciate activism a great deal more, ...
Throughout Ta-Nehisi Coates novel, Between the World and Me, Coates discusses his body and how his body relates to the troubles he has encountered. In multiple occasions, Coates explains situations where his body could lead him into trouble. An example of this states, “Not being violent enough could cost me my body. Being too violent could cost me my body. We could not get out” (pg. 28). Coates describes his childhood of understanding the streets better than he could understand shapes and colors. If he did not understand the streets, his body would be endangered in his neighborhood. On the other hand, if Coates happened to be too violent, he would eventually get himself in trouble with the police or other affiliations. Therefore, he felt stuck. Many African-American citizens in today’s world relate to Coates’s feeling of being stuck. People may even compare the feeling of being stuck to feeling at war. “This was a war for the possession of his body and that would be the war of his whole life” (pg. 18), Coates says as he explains the feeling of his body being in constant jeopardy. In class, people have discussed the fact that African-Americans are given an identity before they can create one for themselves. Coates uses the phrase, “Learn to play defense- ignore the head and keep your eyes on the body.” (pg. 33). He uses this quote to show the wrong in our society, primarily teachers in this case. When teachers referred themselves as to having good intentions or trying their best in explaining history, they are basically writing off history as something that is in the past. Instead of diving into the material, people tend to look at the basis of the information. This relates to people judging the book by it’s cover, which also relates to our society interpreting people by their skin or body. Overall, Coates has a fear of his own body and that fear limits his opportunities.
ReplyDeleteIn Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between The World and Me, Coates makes an abundance of remarks regarding the history and current standings of race relations in the United States. He evokes pity and sadness through his examples of brutality people have gone through in the past. For example, Coates states, "And have you seen men in uniform drive by and murder Tamir Rice, a twelve-year-old child whom they were oath-bound to protect"(pg 9). Coates gives us an example of police brutality against a black child who there were sworn to protect. Another example is when Coates hits on the struggles of being a black parent in the United States. Coates explains, "It was said that these lost girls were as sweet as honey and would not hurt a fly. These boys had just received a GED and had begun to turn their lives around and now they were gone..."(pg 16). He's explaining that innocent kids are being lost as a result of the the streets, jail, drugs, or guns. He also refers to this struggle when he talks about how his son needs to at all costs protect his body. That seemed to be Coates' biggest point throughout the first part of the book. He keeps reiterating on the fact that people must start protecting their bodies. He believes that people need to start having "control" over their bodies so they can "live free". But even Coates is still fearful of his own body. He states, "And I am afraid...But I was afraid long before you, and in this I was original"(pg 14). I understand what Coates means when he says that he needs to protect his body and why he is fearful of it being taken from him. I understand what he means because of the various examples and points he makes about the injustices of blacks in the United States.
ReplyDeleteIn Part I of Ta-Nehisi Coates book, Between the World and Me, Coates writes to his 15 year old son about what it is like to grow up and live as an African American in the world at that time, and even to this day. Throughout the first part, he gives multiple examples about the injustice towards African Americans in the United States and also some of his past experiences while growing up in a town where he only knew black people. He mentions how he lived his life in fear, and feels most fear whenever his son leaves his side. His fear began when he was "eleven years old, standing outside the 7-eleven, watching a crew of older boys standing in the street. they yelled and gestured at.... who?.... another young boy, like me, who stood there, almost smiling, gamely throwing up his hands."(pg. 18). He then realized that his life was in constant jeopardy, and their life was "a war for the possession of his body and that would be the war of his whole life."(pg. 18). This seemed to be the main point he was trying to get across to his son, that he needs to constantly be aware of his body being at danger or it will be destroyed. He gives his his son examples of this by reminding him of some of the people that have been killed by the justice system all in just one year. He states, "you saw Eric Garner choked to death for selling cigarettes; because you know that Renisha McBride was shot for seeking help, that John Crawford was shot down for browsing in a department store. And you have seen men in uniform drive by and murder Tamir Rice, a twelve-year old whom the were oath-bound to protect."(pg. 9). He explains that the destroyers are rarely held accountable for their actions, so this all comes back to being aware and taking care of your body. In conclusion, the first part of, Between the World and Me, is mainly about Coates explaining to his son what is ahead of him living as an African American in the United States.
ReplyDeleteTa-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me” gives a unique perspective on race and how it affects American society. The book starts off by referencing how race itself was something that was constructed, and not based off of facts. I thought that this piece was a perfect follow up to the ideas in the Haney-Lopez work entitled “The Social Construction of Race”, and Coates even speaks to some of the same points that Haney-Lopez does, mainly that race is not linked to any true biological or physiological proof(pg. 7). I think that Coates sums this idea up perfectly with the quote “race is the child of racism, not the father.” I really liked this quote because I think that it is a really interesting, yet simple, way to describe the very complex topic of the social construction of race. I also thought that his idea of living in your “full body” as an African-American person was really interesting(pg, 7); as humans, we all tend to tailor our personalities and identities slightly to fit different social settings, but as a white person I never feel like I cannot express myself freely. It is very eye-opening when you hear these African-American writers express at various different periods in time that race has this nasty ability to limit freedom in ways we might not always think. He talks about his childhood, and how death was very common where he was from (pg. 21). Coates mentions that fear was constantly a part of his upbringing. Mostly his parents fear that he would not return home because he was killed, or that he got mixed up in the wrong crowd. He explains how his childhood was mostly about learning the skills to simply survive (pg. 21). He grew up in Baltimore so I think that his perspective on race is influenced by the urban black person's experience. Coates’ contemporary narrative of what it is like to be African-American, at least from his one perspective, causes one to wonder if his idea of not feeling like African-Americans have the ability to be their full self or live in their full body would resonate with black people who have different upbringings? Coates throughout the first part of the book is trying to pass on his knowledge of survival as a young black boy onto his son. He is trying to teach his son that as a black person you always have to be alert. Coates even sites some high profile murder cases like the Tamir Rice cases as evidence for his son that black people must always be twice as good to survive in America.
ReplyDeleteCoates, Ta-Nehisi. Between the World and Me. Reclam, 2017.
In ‘Between the World and Me’, Ta-Nehisi Coates describes what it’s like growing up as an African American and how his body affects the ways others treat and look at him. Coates grew up during the 70’s-80’s in Baltimore. In his book he describes raw moments from his childhood that have stuck with him as he got older. An example of this would be: “A year after I watched the boy with the small eyes pull out a gun, my father beat me for letting another boy steal from me. Two years later, he beat me for threatening my ninth-grade teacher. Not being violent enough could cost me my body. Being too violent could cost me my body” (28) He would later pass these same messages on to his son. In the book, he teaches his son how to survive growing up as an African American in the United States. He cautions his son the same way his father cautioned him. He explains how kids are getting caught up in jail, drugs, etc. and how they are dying from it. He puts a huge emphasis on police brutality. He describes how they are murdering innocent people every day because of how they look. Coates puts a huge emphasis on protecting his body, the way his father did, and now is making his son. He fears that he is not in control of his body, and being in control is the most important thing. The main message of part one, is to give advice to his son about how to survive and thrive in the world.
ReplyDeleteIn Ta-Nehisi Coates novel, Between the World and Me, Coates reflects on his childhood memories of growing up an African American in the projects Baltimore, Maryland and contemplates the effects that the social concept of “race” has had on his body. He describes a physical evocation he experienced in his youth on page 17 when he states, “We, the children, employed our darkest humor to cope….We were laughing, but I know that we feared those who loved us most. Our parents resorted to the lash the way flagellants in the plague years resorted to the scourge.”(Coates 17) Ta-Nehisi implores the pains he and his fellow neighbors endured during their youth. The act of being whipped by his parents shaped his behaviors as when he committed a wrong, it resulted in a whipping. Coates equivalates receiving a harsh punishment for an offense he committed to a flagellant being whipped as a way to repent his sins. Instead of perhaps looking up to his parents, in return, he fears them; as they are the giver of love and pain. He and his neighbors all share these similar pains and experiences. So, it is easy to turn to each other and laugh it off than trying to communicate with their parents, the source of these pains, which is hard to see the love through the wounds.
ReplyDeleteTa-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me tells a story about being black in the United States. It is written in the form of a letter to his teenage son about his (Coates) own experiences. Anyone who has heard of America has also heard of the “American Dream” - the ideology that everyone and anyone should be free and to live life the way they wish to. However, Coates plays with this idea throughout the novel, distorting the true meaning of the “dream.” He is adamant in his belief that the Dream is purely for the privileged and purposefully excluded African Americans. On page 50: “The Dream thrives on generalization, on limiting the number of possible questions, on privileging immediate answers.” Coates is implying that those privileged and those oppressed should not think too deeply about the social realities of the United States, that everything is exactly the way it should be, that there is nothing wrong with the injustices towards African Americans. This Dream was powered from oppression. On page 119-120, Coates tells a brief story about the time when he accidentally bumped into a young black man at the airport. Coates said, “My bad.” The young man replied, “You straight.” In this moment, he realized that those oppressed exist in an interwoven world. Much like all of the other oppressed groups, such as gay men, he felt an immense interconnectedness to them. He realized that they are all oppressed under the Dream, and through this oppression, art, rhetoric, and exclusive forms of communication bloomed. On page 85, Coates says, “ All along I knew that there were some, who lived in the Dream, for whom the conversation was different. Their ‘safety’ was in schools, portfolios, and skyscrapers.” This further reinforces the gap between the African Americans and the privileged. This suppression of culture and gap of safety had created a unique interwovenness between otherwise very distant cultures. People from all walks of life were able to feel united because they were all oppressed under the Dream; ironically, the same Dream that is supposed to bring freedom for all.
ReplyDeleteIn the second part of Between the World and Me Coates deeper indulges on the meaning of the African American body when police are involved.
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of part two he shares a story of him being pulled over by the cops. The cops he was pulled over by were known to be corrupt and killed many people based on their own judgment. Coates states “ But these officers had my body, could do with that body whatever they pleased,and should I live to explain what they done with it, this complaint would mean nothing.(pg76) This quotes shows how the African American body can be in the hands of law enforcement.
Coates then shares Prince Jones. Prince Jones was a Harvard university student who was killed by a corrupt police officer. After all the police killing blacks it caused Coates to see all law enforcement as dangerous. He states “ They were not human to me. Black, white,or whatever they were the menaces of nature; they were the fire, the comet the storm, which could—with no justification—shatter my body.” This quote is similar to how I view those who are supposed to protect the place I live. When I was in middle school my grandmother and I had got into a car accident around the corner from my home. We stood at the side of the road waiting for the police to arrive so we could explain the situation. We were in walking distance from my home and my grandfather walked to the accident scene. The police car arrives and my grandmother, grandfather and I are all standing next to her wrecked car. The policeman exits his car and approaches us. He speaks to my grandmother and she tells him exactly what happened and how she was driving. After the officer spoke with my grandmother he approached my grandfather and questions him aggressively. He asked if my grandfather was driving the wrecked car and my grandfather said “no,he had walked here” multiple times. He asked to see my grandfather’s license knowing that my grandfather walked to the scene.My grandfather submissively gave the policemen his identification.The officer then went in his car, returned my grandfather’s identification and left. My grandfather rode me to school and the car ride was silent. I was confused at how the policeman’s goal had seemed to focus on interrogating my grandfather rather than helping my grandmother who was clearly in distress from the crash. Even though no one was harmed or hurt thankfully I still seen that my family’s safekeeping was not the most important thing to the officer. I began to view the law as Coates did and I understood that my safety was not their top priority.