Between The World And Me Summary

After reading Between the World and Me, I was able to obtain key knowledge from Coates. To further help me understand this knowledge, I had to recognize the central theme of Coates’ work. The message that Coates was trying to reveal is the idea that people build false realities, and they live through these realities as an authentic way of life.
An example of one false reality would be the idea of race. Coates mentions that “Americans believe in the reality of ‘race’ as a defined, indubitable feature of the natural world. Racism… inevitably follows from this inalterable condition.” He believes that race is a factor of human invention and not of the natural world. It was put out into the world to create division among people, making some races seem as though they were superior to others. To further emphasize this claim he uses the phrase “those who believe they are white,” throughout his work. The repetitiveness of the phrase and the nature of
Typically, when people think about what the American dream consists of they think about the house with the white picket fence, the opportunity to be apart of a country where they will have equal opportunities, and a chance at a better life, right? Coates even acknowledges this saying, “I have seen that dream my whole life. It is perfect houses with nice lawns. It is Memorial Day cookouts, block associations, and driveways. The Dream is treehouses and the cub scouts.” But in reality it is all an impression. A show to escape the horrific events and brutal past that America was built on. The Dream is not only used to stray away from the past, but it also provides a crutch for white Americans so they do not have to take accountability for the lack of opportunities that are available for minorities. People that believe in the American dream are only delusional because the idea of it is fantasy. Reality proves “the Dream” is non