In Between the World and Me, written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the author writes with passion to his son about the many different stages of his life intended directly to depict the life of a black person and in how racism, prejudice, and slavery has caused a black life to be unequal to a white one. In his writing Coates states
“The truth is that the police reflect America in all of its will and fear, and whatever we might make of this country’s criminal justice policy, it cannot be said that it was imposed by a repressive minority. . . . And so to challenge the police is to challenge the American people who send them into the ghettos armed with the same self-generated fears that compelled the people who think they are white to flee the cities and into the Dream. The problem with the police is not that they are fascist pigs but that our country is ruled by majoritarian pigs.”
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He supports this claim by also stating in the passage that the criminal justice policy, the laws imposed and high ranking officials, are set and voted not by a repressive majority, but by the majority of the American people. Therefore, there is no way to ‘challenge’ or the change the way the police act because they are not sent out to ensure justice and liberty of every American citizen, but instead are payed to ensure that the ‘Dream’ remains the ‘Dream’ separate from the inhabitants of the ghettos, and that the constant pressure of the majority to ensure the ghettos and ‘Dream’ are not mixed is without will the standing prejudice of America on the descendants of
Reading Between the World and Me gave me some level of insight as to what it means to be black. Coates described the fear of the police, the legislature, and the white that enveloped his community. He described how fear led to parents breaking children with sticks and belts until these kids shared the inherent
In this passage from the novel Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates utilizes meaningful, vivid imagery to not only stress the chasm between two dissonant American realities, but to also bolster his clarion for the American people to abolish the slavery of institutional or personal bias against any background. For example, Coates introduces his audience to the idea that the United States is a galaxy, and that the extremes of the "black" and "white" lifestyles in this galaxy are so severe that they can only know of each other through dispatch (Coates 20-21). Although Coates's language is straightforward, it nevertheless challenges his audience to reconsider a status quo that has maintained social division in an unwitting yet ignorant fashion.
One of the most disturbing trends in American policing in recent years has been the militarization of police weaponry and tactics. In his new book, “The Rise of the Warrior Cop”, author Radley Balko traces the roots of American law enforcement from the constables of colonial times to present day SWAT teams and special response units. With the high controversy surrounding the “war on drugs” and the “war on terrorism,” policymakers have signed off on a dangerously aggressive style of policing that too often leads to unnecessary deaths and injuries. Some people say that modern law enforcement is on a collision course with our Bill of Rights and is unconstitutional. In the book “ Rise of the Warrior Cop” the author talks about how modern day policing are adapting mostly all military tactic. These wars are more than just metaphors designed to rally public support and secure all the money they can to support these programs. They change the way we think about what the police do. Wars mean shooting first and asking questions later. Wars require military tactics and weaponry. Wars mean civilian casualties. Are we at war with our own people?
In the novel “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the story is a direct letter to his son. This letter contains the tools and instructions that his son will need in order to be a successful “black body” in the modern society. Coates explains his life experiences and hardships he had to overcome because of the color of his skin. Coates pushes an urgent message to the world; discrimination is still prevalent and real in today 's society, and the world is still struggling to accept an equal life for blacks. Coates writings alter the minds of his readers and allow them to experience life through a black man 's eyes. Ta-Nehisi Coates does this by the use of rhetorical strategies like, repetition and tone, metaphors and similes, and
Ta-Nehisi Coates’ novel Between the World and Me is the descendant of Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time. It is the next in the series of great novels that reflect on the narratives of black people in America. He explores the idea of the black body and how it is in danger. But, the most powerful message that Coates gives to the coming of age black youth is that despite knowing that danger, we must live life without fear.
In the novel, Citizen, author Claudia Rankine shows her concerns with the subtle “everyday racism” African Americans experience on a daily basis and the profound effects this has on their self-image, and uses the secondary pronoun “you” to allow the reader to feel as if they were dealing with these microaggressions. Rankine intervenes in current debates about racism due to her approach on everyday racism. In a time where macroaggressions such as police brutalities have reached the news and is taking up a lot of the racial discussion in the United States, Rankine tries to show the reader the root of the problem/where these macroaggressions stemmed from. decides to take out a magnifier to look at where the disease starts.
Between the World and Me was written by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote the book as a letter to his son, He tries to answer difficult question using the past, his past, and the present. He tries to answer, “What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live with in it?” and “How can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history
Ta- Nehisi Coates’ autobiography, Between the World and Me, has a variety of themes that include: history, racism, and father/son relationships. My essay will be about the father/son relationship theme. There are many points addressed in the father/son relationship; such as fear, fathers not being there for their sons, and lack of communication; just to name a few. The purpose of this essay is to conduct a rhetorical analysis of a father/son relationship in Ta- Nehisi Coates’ Between the World in regarding ethos, pathos, and logos. In our world today, many of the young black men are getting themselves into trouble.
However, after reading the article the author noted that police are mandated to enforce civilian law and order, investigate crimes, and strictly follow legal procedures even when in pursuit of chronic and dangerous criminals (Kagoro, 2014). Ideally, it has been argued, there should be strict dividing lines between the police and the military; the former for domestic purposes with the latter protecting citizens from external threats (Kagoro, 2014). In his article on the anti-militarization of the police in the United States, Kurt Andrew Schlichter aptly put it that the military is designed, organized, and equipped to execute rapid, violent and efficient obliteration of the “enemy”-whoever the enemy may be ( Kagoro, 2014). However, the law enforcement is usually modeled after the military and in fact there a large number of police officers who are former military personnel. This was a new criticism of police that was unfamiliar to me in the study of criminal justice but, I found it to be a valid point. The idea of changing the focus of policing to be less of a battlefield and more of a community may be a compelling approach to make interaction with citizens less
Throughout the novel , In the Heat of the Night, written by John Ball, there are many situations in which racism is incorporated. There are several characters in the novel that are racist, but their opinions are expressed in different ways. For example, the character, Sam Wood, usually keeps his opinions about racism to himself. The character, Bill Gillespie, expresses his opinions about racism vocally, but in a subtle way. The character, Harvey Oberst, expresses his opinions about racism vocally and without hesitation. All in all, each of these characters are clearly racist, but express their opinions differently.
“It was so hostile. I was so confused. It was happening so fast that I could easily see how this situation could get out of hand very quickly. I didn’t feel safe as all. But one officer stopped his questioning and said, ‘we may not let you go’.” (Perry) This is a quote from famous producer Tyler Perry, talking about his experience being stopped by two white police officers in Atlanta. Police officers are among the most trusted men and women in American society, they should be anyway. However, in some cities and states the trust between officers and people of a racial minority, such as Africans, Latinos and Arabs, has been tainted by mistreatment of policing powers. Some officers are stopping, searching, or pulling people of these races over and breaking the code they stand for by disrespecting the citizen, most of whom are completely innocent. This is not only morally unacceptable, but also completely unconstitutional and needs to stop promptly. With proper legislative action this injustice can and will be righted!
In his book “Between the World and Me”, Ta-Nehisi Coates explores what it means to be a black body living in the white world of the United States. Fashioned as a letter to his son, the book recounts Coates’ own experiences as a black man as well as his observations of the present and past treatment of the black body in the United States. Weaving together history, present, and personal, Coates ruminates about how to live in a black body in the United States. It is the wisdom that Coates finds within his own quest of self-discovery that Coates imparts to his son.
With this statement, he clearly shows that the peace and justice in the United States is not limited only to the white population, but also belongs to the black population.... ... middle of paper ... ... He also uses the powerful words “Free at last” in order to show the importance of the situation of the black population.
In the book Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates speaks on racial encounters developing while growing up and gives a message to his son about the unfair racial ways he had to overcome in his life. Through Coates racist and unfair lifestyle, he still made it to be a successful black man and wants his son to do the same. He writes this book to set up and prepare his child for his future in a country that judges by skin color. Coates is stuck to using the allegory of a disaster in the book while trying to explain the miserable results from our history of white supremacy. In parts of the story, he gives credit to the viewpoint of white
This article that I have chosen is a perfect example of why officers commit police brutality on people especially minorities. Racial profiling by officers must also end because not everyone in a certain race is a criminal. What I have read in the text complements the information about police brutality that this article provides because they both explain why officers go after minorities due to them assuming the person is going to fight back. This article also complements the in class discussions on this subject.