Blog Post #8- Abby Jiminian
Coates book has given me a lot to think about and has definitely added to my knowledge. I have appreciated his perspective of what it is to be a black man in America according to his experience. I also find it rather interesting to be able to dive into the way his writes. Coates is one writer that is so precise. Literally every word, story, etc in the things he writes are placed there for a reason. It's almost as if Coates knows how to peak interest whether negative or positive with the way he expresses himself.
The topic of oppression and racism in this country is already a sensitive and troublesome topic but I think that his approach tries to keep all the sugar coating out of it and just get straight to the truth. Part two when he talks about his friend Prince Jones was important in my eyes for many reasons. It is a reality that being black in America is met with lots of judgement and persecution just on the basis of skin color. However, Coates could have not used a better example of police brutality in my opinion. Whenever a black person is killed by the police there is usually bs justification behind it. Like there was a gun, this person was in a gang, this person tried to resist arrest, etc. Always some type of explanation as to why the cop felt like they had to pull the trigger. In fact when a black person gets killed by the cops there is more investigation going into why they are a criminal and they deserved to die than what actually happened. And I'm not saying that this is truth for all of the black people that have been killed by cops but it is at least the story that is presented to the public. Prince Jones came from a very successful home. His mother was an established doctor, I believe chief of Radiology, he lived in a nice neighborhood and had great schooling. Jones was a smart kid, Ivy League caliber and humble. He had a fiancé, was a student at Howard University and a great person overall. A man with such high regard was killed by a cop because he fit a suspect guideline that the police put out. He was innocent but he looked the part so that made his killing justified in the eyes of the police. Trust me I am by no means trying to disrespect the police, there are great cops out there that do a lot of good but I also don't think this should go unnoticed. I think the next thing that made this example so powerful was the fact that he was a black cop. People are so quick to name call and plaster white cops as the racists and the bigots that kill black people for fun but the pure fact is that's not the truth. Cops unfortunately are told to approach suspects of color as more dangerous. There could be a number of reasons why this is a reality but most cops are on higher alert when dealing with a brown or black suspect. Reasons for this I think is the incarnation rates for black and brown people are significantly higher than for white people, there are more brown and black people in lower income housing, the "ghettos" because of less opportunities and people of color have longer sentences and harder parole processes than an equal white counterpart just because the color of their skin. All sad realities but this could all add to why people of color are so "dangerous" to police officers. It doesn't help that black and brown people are terrified of cops. Not that running away is smart but when you are programmed to think that just because of your skin color a cop could kill you or mistreat you it is met with a lot of fear. When you are scared your sympathetic nervous system turns on and a thing called fight or flight is predominant. To most black people dealing with cops is like dealing with survival. I honestly applaud Coates it was smart to use Prince Jones as an example. It breaks a lot of stigma that people have when it comes to cops killing black people and it sheads a ton of light on this situation. I don't think he could have picked a better example to exhibit the reality of a lot of these circumstances.
I kind of want to shout out our whole class too. This is such a hard and difficult topic to try and wrap your head around and everyone has given such great insight and respect in regards to this. Everyone is so respectful and has such intelligent things to say on this topic which is amazing to watch. Being able to see people build off of each others views and respectfully say their opinion even if its in the minority is refreshing. Lots of time when I have learned about these type of lessons in school lots of students have had stigma or no care for what certain groups go through. Everyone listens and they are sympathetic which is refreshing. Because while some people have not been through discrimination based on their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc they still extend that understanding that its not right. I have been in classes before where a black person or someone that identifies as a different gender etc has voiced their opinion on a subject that has touched their life before or pertains to them and there have been rude murmurs about them while they are talking about their experience. I appreciate how open and willing everyone is to listen. It is really respectful and very mature.
The topic of oppression and racism in this country is already a sensitive and troublesome topic but I think that his approach tries to keep all the sugar coating out of it and just get straight to the truth. Part two when he talks about his friend Prince Jones was important in my eyes for many reasons. It is a reality that being black in America is met with lots of judgement and persecution just on the basis of skin color. However, Coates could have not used a better example of police brutality in my opinion. Whenever a black person is killed by the police there is usually bs justification behind it. Like there was a gun, this person was in a gang, this person tried to resist arrest, etc. Always some type of explanation as to why the cop felt like they had to pull the trigger. In fact when a black person gets killed by the cops there is more investigation going into why they are a criminal and they deserved to die than what actually happened. And I'm not saying that this is truth for all of the black people that have been killed by cops but it is at least the story that is presented to the public. Prince Jones came from a very successful home. His mother was an established doctor, I believe chief of Radiology, he lived in a nice neighborhood and had great schooling. Jones was a smart kid, Ivy League caliber and humble. He had a fiancé, was a student at Howard University and a great person overall. A man with such high regard was killed by a cop because he fit a suspect guideline that the police put out. He was innocent but he looked the part so that made his killing justified in the eyes of the police. Trust me I am by no means trying to disrespect the police, there are great cops out there that do a lot of good but I also don't think this should go unnoticed. I think the next thing that made this example so powerful was the fact that he was a black cop. People are so quick to name call and plaster white cops as the racists and the bigots that kill black people for fun but the pure fact is that's not the truth. Cops unfortunately are told to approach suspects of color as more dangerous. There could be a number of reasons why this is a reality but most cops are on higher alert when dealing with a brown or black suspect. Reasons for this I think is the incarnation rates for black and brown people are significantly higher than for white people, there are more brown and black people in lower income housing, the "ghettos" because of less opportunities and people of color have longer sentences and harder parole processes than an equal white counterpart just because the color of their skin. All sad realities but this could all add to why people of color are so "dangerous" to police officers. It doesn't help that black and brown people are terrified of cops. Not that running away is smart but when you are programmed to think that just because of your skin color a cop could kill you or mistreat you it is met with a lot of fear. When you are scared your sympathetic nervous system turns on and a thing called fight or flight is predominant. To most black people dealing with cops is like dealing with survival. I honestly applaud Coates it was smart to use Prince Jones as an example. It breaks a lot of stigma that people have when it comes to cops killing black people and it sheads a ton of light on this situation. I don't think he could have picked a better example to exhibit the reality of a lot of these circumstances.
I kind of want to shout out our whole class too. This is such a hard and difficult topic to try and wrap your head around and everyone has given such great insight and respect in regards to this. Everyone is so respectful and has such intelligent things to say on this topic which is amazing to watch. Being able to see people build off of each others views and respectfully say their opinion even if its in the minority is refreshing. Lots of time when I have learned about these type of lessons in school lots of students have had stigma or no care for what certain groups go through. Everyone listens and they are sympathetic which is refreshing. Because while some people have not been through discrimination based on their race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc they still extend that understanding that its not right. I have been in classes before where a black person or someone that identifies as a different gender etc has voiced their opinion on a subject that has touched their life before or pertains to them and there have been rude murmurs about them while they are talking about their experience. I appreciate how open and willing everyone is to listen. It is really respectful and very mature.
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