Blog Post #7
After the discussion we had in class I was really excited to read the rest of the book Between You and Me. The format of the story is so interesting because it is a letter to his son, rather than a book addressing an unknown audience. It makes it the story so intimate but you also sort of feel like you are being invasive while reading it at the same time. The book somewhat reads like a speech that you would hear at graduation or from someone at a TED talk. Both of which are normally meant to be read as very powerful and backed by a strong lesson or meaning. This story addresses Americas racial history and current civil rights crises. Coates attempts to answer why America is the way it is when it comes to racial issues and how we got to this place through this narrative. Coates describes a fault in American life, which is that we believe that everyone can achieve the American dream when in reality this is not true. As we discussed in class, the people that built the nation are shut out of economic prosperity to this day, and we as Americans need to recognize that. Coates addresses that we as Americans aren't necessarily the as blatantly racist as we used to be but that there is maybe unintentional but certainly undeniable racism still in America today. At one point he says: "And you know now if you did not know before, that the police departments of your country have been endowed the authority to destroy your body" (9). This quote is so strong because it is still very relevant today. There are constantly stories in the news about conflicts between cops and citizens and how that is affecting the well being of society as a whole.
It is hard to read a book so intimate and so real because it addresses a situation that is so obvious yet so hard to fix. As we discussed in class, Americans are ready to address history when it is beneficial and it suites us. We will honor past presidents but ignore the fact that they actually were slaveholders. We will look to our past when it makes us look good but not when it makes us look bad. I think it is important to take after countries like Germany who began reparations for Israel and addressed the wrongs that they made. I really enjoyed reading the book and it really got me thinking about what I can do personally to help change some of the problems presented.
It is hard to read a book so intimate and so real because it addresses a situation that is so obvious yet so hard to fix. As we discussed in class, Americans are ready to address history when it is beneficial and it suites us. We will honor past presidents but ignore the fact that they actually were slaveholders. We will look to our past when it makes us look good but not when it makes us look bad. I think it is important to take after countries like Germany who began reparations for Israel and addressed the wrongs that they made. I really enjoyed reading the book and it really got me thinking about what I can do personally to help change some of the problems presented.
I agree with your perspective on how Between the World and Me presents itself in a way much like a speech or a TED talk even though it's originally framed as a letter to the author's son. I also think that it shares an important message about how, like you said, Americans address history in a way that it suits us, and I think it's important that this book brings up the fact that we don't spend enough time looking back at the problems Americans have and continue to cause relating to racism in order to find new solutions and really establish equality between everyone in the country.
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