Recently, I finished reading Between The World And Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, a book written in the format of a letter to his son about race in America. Specifically, it addresses a number of unique struggles his son will face as a black male while also bringing attention to racism’s history and modern manifestation in American society. So without further ado, here are nine quotes that I found particularly powerful…
1.
One of Coates’s fundamental claims throughout the book is that race is a social construct that was established to make white people feel superior to their non-white counterparts. Coates will often use phrases like “people who believe themselves to be white” because, at the end of the day, he argues that the terms “white” and “black” only exist because of a need to deify “whiteness” and scorn “blackness”.
2.
As a person of color, I don’t find it difficult to criticize American exceptionalism. The United States is a great nation in many respects but its history is far too dark to gloss over. We are not the pinnacle of morality and humanity that we think we are and the sooner we address and make peace with our history rather than try to ignore it, the sooner we can move forward productively.
3.
This is still something I live in constant fear of. I’ve already written two articles about race in America so I’m blue in the face but I’ll just say this: if you can pass a police officer without feeling your heart rate increase, you may have white privilege. That is all.
4.
I’m just gonna say retweet. That was fairly straightforward.
5.
This is a snag I, and many people of color, often get caught on. Intentions throughout history are debatable but ultimately the effect is all that matters. This need to preserve the American Dream, a pristine idea of what American society is, in its current state is rooted in historical denial and apathy. America is not exempt from accountability as much as it may like to believe.
6.
As much as I love the peaceful civil rights movement led by MLK and other leaders, I too find value in these ideas. The decision to protest peacefully or combatively lies in the hands of the oppressed group. I often feel uneasy when I hear non-minorities praise King and his followers for non-violence.
As the oppressive population that would’ve faced harsher consequences, it makes sense that the method in which we simply take the abuse and find other manners to resist is preferable. The mainstream civil rights movement also took too much comfort in religion for my taste as well. I understand how it can be comforting but at the end of the day, there’s no guarantee that our bloodshed means anything beyond this realm.
I greatly admire the people who were willing to put their bodies at risk to peacefully protest, but I have a great deal of respect for people who were prepared to use any means necessary as well.
7.
I respect this acknowledgment because Coates takes the time to acknowledge our capability of wrongdoing and doesn’t just point fingers. While acknowledging the ways we’ve been wronged, for moral purposes, it’s also essential to monitor the degree to which we wrong others. The idea that hate provides identity is especially profound. It explains why so many people hold onto it with such a tight grip.
8.
I quite appreciate this discouragement toward poeticizing the carnage and inhumanity of African American history. I feel like many celebrations of black history have a habit of pushing this narrative of “irrepressible justice” which, in a way, could be construed as disrespectful or trivialization. Our ancestors faced difficult and at times insurmountable challenges and to act as if their eventual success was the result of some kind of inevitable fate rather than their strenuous labor doesn’t do them justice.
9.
The beginning two sentences have been ingrained in my mind from youth. The first one was taught to me by my mother and I learned the second one through experience. For example, though I’ve never stolen in my life, I have, on several occasions, been followed around stores by security guards and store clerks. It’s unfortunate that I have to be held accountable for crimes I’ve never committed but such is life for many blacks and other minorities in the United States.
Furthermore, the idea that we must find our place in the disorder while still remembering the sins of the past is unfortunately paramount to being an informed black American citizen. It’s unfortunate because it means we can never truly let our guard down; but again, such is life.
And that’s just pages 1- 75. Later, I'll delve into even more. In the meantime, stay woke, y'all!
