The Fears of African Americans

  In the first half of Between the World and Me Coates describes some of the fears he had to face as a child growing up in America. The fears he faced on the daily basis shaped his life and these fears that he described have similar meanings to me in my life as an African American. Although our experiences may be not the exact same I can really relate to the vivid descriptions Coates have in the first half of his book.
Coates was constantly surrounded by fear and he explained by stating “The fear was there in the extravagant boys of my neighborhood, in their large rings and medallions, their big puffy coats and full-length fur-collared leathers, which was their armor against the world.”(pg14)This quote had resonated so much for me because I was constantly around the same thing. The only difference between the description of the people Coates gave and people I grew up around was that the people I grew up around were more flamboyant with their rage and control of the streets. They labeled themselves “Trap n*ggas” and promoted their guns and money all over the internet.
Coates the later on questions me as the reader asking “ Do you ever feel that same need? Your life is so very different from my own. The grandness of the world, the real world, the whole world, is a known thing for you. And you have no need of dispatches because you have seen so much of the American galaxy and its inhabitants… I don’t know what it means to grow up with a black president, social networks, omnipresent media and black women everywhere in their natural hair.”(pg21)This quote by Coates shows me that the changes he sees are bigger than what they really are. Although I was able to see a man of color be in office I also witnessed his name be slandered and criticized to a point beyond his control. The social networks and omnipresent media I have access to make jokes about black men being deported, show tons of missing women and children in the area I live and advertise boys I knew who were shot to death for some inexplicable reason.
I give these examples to show that the fears Coates listed and the ones I share don’t differ as much as he makes them seem. It makes me wonder has america really changed?
 

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