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  • Essay / Between the World and Me: Living as a Black Man in a White World

    In Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates writes a letter to his fifteen-year-old son, Samori. He explains his personal life and history in his letter trying to make his son understand what it means to live as a black man. Living as a black man in the world has posed many challenges throughout history, and even today, it is by no means perfect conditions. This is why Coates is writing to his son, to help him in today's life and prepare him for the problems to come. In this letter to his son, Coates has three main parts: what he himself experiences growing up, the events after Samori's birth, and his visit with Mable Jones. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In the first part of the letter, Coates describes what happened to him when he was a young boy. Growing up in Baltimore as a black child, the simplest things were extremely dangerous and could end up killing you. Coates learned to behave the same as his peers, but he was constantly afraid of anything that might happen, he only thought about getting out. After grade school, Coates continued his education at Howard University and planned to become a writer. He was amazed by the diversity within the same university. While attending Howard, he met a girl who would later become his wife. The second part of the letter arrives once the twenty-four-year-old Coates has his son, Samori. He dropped out of college and moved to Maryland. While living in Maryland, he learned of the death of one of his classmates, named Prince Jones. This event was just one of the first of many that stirred Coates' emotions in his letter to his son. This form of police brutality angered Coates. Coates became interested in police brutality in his area, which led him to move to New York where he slowly began keeping a journal. Having started earning minimal money upon moving to New York, he gradually became a stronger writer while his wife supported the rest of the family. While in New York, he faced a difficult racial situation when a white man pushed his son and then threatened to call the police when Coates tried to confront him. Coates begins to realize what the country's dream is. This dream was the idea that white people thought they were above everyone else, especially when it came to black people. Whites believed that blacks should be held to lower standards. The third part of the letter explains that Coates visits Prince Jones' mother, Dr. Mable Jones, who has experienced the same difficulties as him. Both rose from poverty and became successful individuals capable of supporting their families. Coates begins to conclude his letter by saying that the dream will never end. He gives him wishful thinking hoping that this will end and also that his son will not experience what he did during his life. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Throughout Coate's Live, he faced several difficult situations that made it even more difficult to live as a black man in a white world. Upon moving from Baltimore to New York, racial issues did not improve. After moving to New York, he slowly managed to support his family and did not have to deal with as many segregation issues. Coates writes the letter with the basics..