The Dream is to have the ideal American life: white picket fences, cherry pies, and the 4th of July or dignity, social status, security, and even privilege. This lack of governmental support all throughout history has hindered African Americans from achieving the Dream, as Coates describes it. government did little to nothing to enforce these laws progress was achieved by the strength, number, and perseverance of the black community. Although laws and acts were passed to supposedly protect the rights of all citizens regardless of their skin color, the U.S. Similarly, the Civil Rights Movement generation of African Americans experienced constant fear from not only white segregationists, but also the presence of the United States government looming over them. Drugs, violence, or crime was used as a means of being in control of themselves and escape from their unwarranted fear. As a result, these children lived in fear because all the authority figures in their lives did not protect them the way they are supposed to. In Coates’ memory of Baltimore, parents would beat their kids, the education system was immensely flawed, and the police did nothing to protect African American children. He described the teenagers in his neighborhood as “extravagant” in the way they dressed and acted all of this was to hide their own vulnerability and acted as a distraction from the real dangers of white America.

After the murder of Mike Brown, Samori was deeply effected by this injustice, but Coates made no effort to console his own son because he believed that comforting him with false optimism would be worse than facing reality.Ĭoates first looks back at his difficult childhood in Baltimore. Coates states that this nostalgic perspective of history is harmful because it facilitates the injustices from history to persist which, in turn causes harm to black bodies. The problem with most (white) Americans is that they look back at history in an idealized way, a perspective that makes them more comfortable. In order to explain this complex concept of one’s body, Coates structures the novel in the form of a letter to his son, Samori, by reflecting upon his own past experiences.

Coates expressed disappointment at this disconnect of not only the host, but also the audience because to him, the answer to the question could be blatantly found in U.S. Unbeknownst to the host, this particular question was a tired one. In Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author begins the novel by recalling an instance in which a talk show host asked what it meant to “lose his body”.

Prince jones between the world and me