Between The World And Me Analysis

Words: 617
Pages: 3

Throughout the entirety of “Between the World and Me”, it has made me think deeper. Coates’ use of language is thought provoking and he highlights the issues of black America in an incredible, although rightfully dark, light. One passage that stood out to me is on page 137:
This chasm makes itself known to us in all kinds of ways. A little girls wanders home, at age seven, after being teased in school and asks her parents, “Are we niggers and what does this mean?” Sometimes it is subtle-the simple observation of whom live where and works what jobs and who does not. Sometimes it’s all of it at once. I have never asked how you became personally aware of the distance. Was it Mike Brown? I don't think I want to know. But I know that it has happened to you already, that you have decided that you are privileged and yet still different from other privileged children, because you are the bearer of a body more fragile than any other in this country. What I want you to know is that this is not your fault, even if it is ultimately your responsibility. It is your responsibility because you are surrounded by the Dreamers...The breach is as intentional as policy, as intentional as the forgetting that follows.
In general, when Coates speaks to his
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Coates and so many who live with the space live with constant remarkable levels of self-awareness. But, they shouldn’t have to. His son and this seven year old girl should be able to be children and not worry about greater consequences. I imagine that so much of a childhood is lost to this chasm. On one hand you want your child to live carefree for a few early years, but what if that gets interrupted by something ugly that comes from this space? How soon is too soon for a child to become aware of this distance they may likely live with for their whole