Intersectionality In 'Ta-Nehisi Coats' Between The World And Me

Intersectionality points to the fact that people are affected, often adversely, not only by their race, but also by their gender, sexual orientation, class, age, and global location. In the novel, “Between the World and Me,” Ta-Nehisi Coates tells a story that demonstrates an instance of intersectionality in which a black boy raised in the ghettos of Baltimore experiences first hand how racial, class, and global location, intertwined, induce a of life hardship on the author, for social reasons other than just race alone. The book is formatted as a letter to the author’s fifteen year old son, Samori, in which the writer (and father) instills his wisdom on his son and, ultimately, outlines how to survive and live “in a black body in America.”

This “social climbing,” Coats contends allows Americans to invest on what the society feels is important in life: comfort, security, and materialistic items that alert others of their prosperity. Consequently, an instinct that “people who think they are White” have acquired over the years in reaction to situations that induce discomfort is one of negligence and dis-regardance, fundamentally responsible for these people’s predominant belief in the American Dream, which blissfully ignores the working hand their privileges provided by their “putative whiteness” contributed in the makings. This idea coincides with the concept put forth by Peggy McIntosh in 1988 known as “white privilege.” Coates touches on this idea through his explanation of the “perils of being a young black boy,” which include having to be “twice as good,” having to take responsibility for the actions of other black people, having to know and follow the “rules,” and having to struggle more than anyone else. Examples originally put forth by McIntosh consist of never having to speak for all the people of my racial group as a Caucasian, and always being able to be casual about whether or not to listen to another person’s voice in a group in which s/he is the only member of his/her race (McIntosh, White Privilege and Male Privilege). Coates

He offers the reader insight for which s/he can reflect with and, ideally transpire discussion. The father’s letter to his fifteen year old son, outlining the cruel realities of the world in which they live, represents a greater concept practiced by blacks in America: the teaching of racism. In most cases, as exhibited by the real life scenario recounted in this book, black children learn racism at a young age from their parents, who, given their years and experiences, fear for their childrens’ lives on an unsurpassable level. Coates recounts his childhood, describing his awareness that “not being violent enough could cost [him] his body. Being too violent could cost [him] his body” (Coates, Page 28). The author speaks of how he, first-hand, witnessed the parental teachings of race to children in the black community, explaining that fathers who slammed their teenage boys for sass would eventually send them off into the streets, where they would be greeted to the same justice, and that mothers who belted their girls attempted to do the same, but unfortunately were unsuccessful in saving these girls from drug dealers twice their age. Ta-Nehisi Coates comes to recognize and accept the fact that the law did not protect blacks in Baltimore and it was time for him to adjust and survive or