Racism, inequality, prejudice, cultural background, stereotypes, trials, discrimination, a small list of ordeals that JD Vance and Ta-Nehisi Coates had to endure during the course of their lives. Some of them still haunt them today, but they are unstoppable in their efforts to educate others. The books they wrote, Hillbilly Elegy and Between the World and Me respectively, function as letters, memoirs, to their prodigy, both blood and reader. From birth to today and beyond, Coates and Vance have faced trials that have made them the respectable men they are today. Regardless of one's upbringing, the empathy that both authors convey through their experiences rings true in everyone's life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay Each of them grew up in similar, but different communities, where the biggest difference between the two was ideas of race and financial status. Coates grew up seeing the effects of racism on his community for decades, while Vance grew up with the ideology of the "hillbilly" being a "lower class" individual inclined toward a certain lifestyle. As a child, Coates' father always wanted the best for him, even considering the harsh consequences of racism on his family and loved ones. As such, each of them had to move forward, in order to progress beyond the limitations of the situations in which they grew up. In a CBS News article, Ta-Nehisi's father, Paul, reportedly took young Ta-Nehisi to work at Howard University, so that Ta-Nehisi could be surrounded by books to improve his life. Paul Coates told the interviewer: “I wanted him to come back and understand that he was not separated from his community. That his successes could only be those of his community, and that his community was in fact his lifeblood. These words ring true when we look back on Ta-Nehisi's childhood. Even though he was overwhelmed by the raging fires of racism, he burned with his own passion, continually kindled by his father. Every situation that arose around him fueled his personal ardor when it came to identifying the effects of “white supremacy” and the detrimental effects it had on the African-American community. Throughout his youth, Coates was on guard, because he was. learned that the police had been “given the power to destroy your body,” information he passed on to his son. He has heard about many cases of police brutality, from the beginnings of racism to the murder of Michael Brown to Prince Jones, acts that are lost to the world, things that are lost over time. He anchored these memories in his body and immortalized them in his works. Although times have changed and it is illegal to do so, a number of officers are showing poor judgment, unnecessary force and abusing their power to do just that. Coates wanted to be sure that his readers and his son would never forget. Coates must have taken to heart the idea of ​​police being “endowed with the power to destroy their bodies,” as his father reminded him through punishments when he acted “out of bounds” at any time. While JD Vance didn't experience battles with racism, he experienced many of his own trials, growing up in Appalachia. Growing up, Vance had to push himself in school because his home life was less than ideal. He received a lot of help from his sister and grandparents. This continued throughout his life, until the deaths of his twograndparents. His mother, on the other hand, wasn't much of a mother to him, as she had many drug problems and it really showed. She used it to falsify drug tests, while making false promises that she would stop and desist. The violence and negativity Vance endured at home made even studying difficult for him, but that didn't stop him. In his TED talk, Vance briefly recounts his life growing up in Appalachia. He explained that he was almost expected to fall into the same path those around him were following. He broke out of the mold created in the spirit of his community. He graduated from high school, college and law school and made a name for himself in the process. This is not to say that his community did not provide him with some knowledge or assistance. He said the "social capital" he obtained "wasn't built for 21st century America..." He learned to shoot a gun, make a "damn good cookie ”, among other skills that are not widely taught in American schools. As a youth, Vance grew up with different examples of childhood trauma, similar to Coates', but unique due to the area he grew up in. Vance's mother was a drug addict who became violent when things didn't go her way. However, when she wasn't "shooting" or "taking pills," she was pushing Vance to do better in school, to make something of himself. It was quite a difference from how she would normally behave around Vance or his sister. According to some statistics, those who experienced these forms of childhood trauma were more likely to repeat the same acts with their own children that they had experienced themselves. Both Vance and Coates experienced their own versions of childhood trauma, but they both overcame the circumstances. become the best version of themselves possible. They both aimed to inspire the American people by chronicling their lives and truly personalizing many of society's mistakes. For Coates, it was, and still is, the racism he experienced in his hometown and in every city he has lived. Brutal police actions that are ignored by many, due to the stereotype of “good-for-nothing” African Americans who only seek to harm or steal. For Vance, it's because he grew up in a low-income family. People from these backgrounds were not expected to succeed in life, because statistically, they were more likely to stick to the same rut their predecessors found themselves in. For each of them, coping with childhood trauma was a different method for each. . Coates noticed this and complained about it, while improving. He offered no ideas or methods for anyone to solve the problems at hand. His personal growth propelled him toward the future he wanted, even as he wanted something better for his own son. He focused on his son needing to improve his own situation, rather than expecting everything around him to change for his own benefit. Vance, on the other hand, proposed various methods for anyone to change their own future for the better. His mother was a drug addict prone to violence, but he persevered, with the help of his grandmother and sister, to finish high school, go to college, attend Yale, and improve his situation. Vance was forthright in speaking about the methods by which he improved his life, and within these methods one can derive his own meticulous methods of improvement. Each of these men was able to attribute his.