Between The World And Me

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Between The World and Me

In the book, Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi offers a new approach through which

the American history of racial encounters and the current predicament on civil rights can be

understood. Americans have created a society of what an ideal race would look like. It is a false

construct, whose implications have damaging effects. The impact is felt mostly by the black

women and men, whose generations were exploited and taken advantage off during the era of

segregation and slavery. Today, their bodies have not been lucky either as they are locked up,

threatened, and even murdered out of the proportion of their large population. This is a history

that back bodies have reckoned with all through the entire American history. Their bodies have

been inhabited and the inhabitants have found ways to live within them. Coates, in his book,

shares his awakening story through a series of revelatory experiences, on his truth about the

American dream. The author makes a necessary statement of truth that bolsters his own

argument when he refers to a white America as a “dream”.

Coates illuminates the past, by shedding light on the American history, while at the same

time he bracingly confronts the modern day, and offers his audience with a transcendent vision

on what the future holds for the people. He borrows widely from his encounters as a black

adolescent and young adult black man in America. He presents what could be referred to as a

guide on how to survive as a young black American. Surprisingly, the book attracted a broad

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white readership and this creates ambiguity as he states in his book: “I didn’t set out to

accumulate a mass of white fans” (Coates 1). He states that the dream on a white America is

racist. Further, he suggests that the black life as discussed by the American media should be

discussed through the struggles that black women and men go through in the nation and have

experienced throughout the American history.

Coates description of a white America as a “dream” is aimed at separating the reality of

black Americans from the so-called dreamers. The dreamers believe in an American dream, one

that envisions an ideal family as one that is nuclear in nature, suburban, and white. He dismisses

the idea of an American dream that can be accessed by black people. He states that even though

he tried for quite long to escape the American dream, he discovered that that was not an option

as the dream rested on his back and those of other black people. Their bodies had been used to

make a bedding for the dream (Coates 11). Evidently, there is a veritable rift between the dream

and the black populace. The black Americans have become victims of the chasm that has been

created by this dream, it is their systematic aggressor.

Coates’s condemnation does not entirely rest on a white American dream, rather, he

deliberately includes the dreamers and those that have ensured the continuity of this dream. In

Between the World and Me, he laments the burden and hardships of existing among people who

dream of a white America. He states, “People who nullify the anger and the fear of the black

experience in order to survive their own innocence (Coates 106). He clearly contrasts between

dreamers and non-dreamers. He illuminates what it means to live among prosecutors and draws a

clear distinction between the black and the white. He is concerned about how the dreamers use

the dream of a white America as a tool to delegitimize the black pain. They intentionally

preserve the rosiness of the dream as a justification of their actions to maintain their status quo.

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Coates disregards the chance that one day, the dreamers will “come into consciousness” (Coates

146). The white will never accept the struggles of black women and men. He says that they will

never “learn how to struggle” (Coates 151).

Coates’s viewpoint on the dream of a white America has been largely criticized with

critics insisting that indeed the Dream is real and still valid. David Brooks states that a sullied

dream cannot be a lie (Kakutani). He talks of a dream that is founded on equal opportunities for

all Americans, enhanced social mobility, and a democracy that is more perfect. He foresees a

perfect future that will be cherished more than the past. According to Brooks, the dream has

unleashed ennobling energies and the mobilization of social reform movements that are more

heroic (Kakutani). Brooks argues that the dream cannot be dissolved, not even under the

excessive acid of realism. He states that some of the dangers of doing away with such a dream

would be that generations will be trapped in the past. Consequently, the guiding star that shows

direction and guides people into a brighter future will be destroyed.

Brooks support on the American dream is unclear; the reader does not understand

whether productivity rises because the dream is a noble lie or meaningfully true. Outrightly,

Coates is right while Brooks is wrong as the dream on a white America is unfounded. The

universal application of the dream is untrue as it is not possible to guarantee equal opportunities

and social mobility for all. The ideal society that Brooks describes is not achievable. Based on

inheritance, this cannot be realized. During the era of slavery, as well as the reign of Jim Crow,

black people in America were locked out of opportunities to become prosperous. The impact is

still felt decades later, and massive inequality is still a reality even in the modern day. The wealth

gap between black Americans and the white people was very wide. The wealthier a parent is, the

more riches are transferred to children. Inheritance does not entail just money, but also social

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habits and access to quality education. This is the reason why poor kids with college

qualifications do worse compared to their rich counterparts who lack the degree. Hence, the

dream is in tatters as the injustices of the past will be carried forward into the future. This

supposition makes Brooks case on the dream ludicrous.

Overall, Coates is right when he dismisses the dream of a white America. He opposes the

dream by stating truthful facts based on the American history, specifically the experiences of

back Americans. However, instead of supporting the dream or the dreamers, he hopes that in

future, the reality of black victims living a worthy life that will be respectable will be realized.

He has high hopes for a future where it will be redundant to say that black men and women are

humans as the black victims will be humanized. America will not need authors like Coates Ta-

Nehisi to appreciate the black struggle and create a just system. Evidently, times have changed,

but the dream cannot be used by the whites to show that their current affluence is as a result of a

level and fair playing field.

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Works Cited

Coates, Ta-Nehisi. Between the world and me. Text publishing, 2015.

Kakutani, Michiko. "Review: In ‘Between The World And Me,’ Ta-Nehisi Coates Delivers A

Searing Dispatch To His Son". Nytimes.Com, 2015,

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/10/books/review-in-between-the-world-and-me-ta-

nehisi-coates-delivers-a-desperate-dispatch-to-his-son.html. Accessed 1 Aug 2018.

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