The American Canon is full of prominent works of literature that create influence and innovation. Students all across the country read novels from this classification almost every day. However, there are novels out in the world that could be considered part of the American Canon, yet are not being recognized. The novel, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, definitely reaches the qualifications to be classified in this body of novels. Coates is an African American writer who explains his life growing up in an oppressed American society. He writes to his son, teaching and informing him the lessons he has learned and how to face the struggles of being a black citizen in the United States. If students were to read this novel in class, it would allow them to…show more content… From slavery all the way until present day, black bodies have been taken advantage of, and Coates portrays this using his own experience. With this novel being based off of true events, it really helps the reader recognize the horrors that African Americans faced, and are still struggling with today. Ta-Nehisi Coates explores racism in America and the exploitation of Black Bodies to represent the oppression African Americans faced, creating a chance to influence students reading from the American Canon.
Racism in America has always been a controversial topic and will continue to be one for an extensive period of time. In the novel, Between the World and Me, it is clear that the author experienced trauma with racism growing up in the ghettos. Everyday in the streets, it was a normal feeling for him to get treated with disrespect. He explains to his son that he had to dedicate most of his knowledge to learning survival on the streets. “I am sure that you have had to deal with the occasional roughneck on the subway or in the park, but when I was your age, each day, fully one-third of my brain was
