Review on "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

[joanofarc2015]

“Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates is an absolutely edible book not because it’s just a 72 page read but because of its beautiful insights on racial discrimination’s history and effects. The book is a letter of the author to his son about how racial discrimination has an impact in today’s society. He writes about crimes caused by prejudice such as Michael Brown’s. He then relates them to the history of the African race and his own struggles growing up in Baltimore as a Black young man.
The book is a good read because one would be exposed to the dangers of prejudice: the violence it creates until today and the limits that are imposed on people. A reader can see it as universal because prejudice has affected the world with the mentality that the rich are the ones who have the right to power. A reader will experience a lot of reflection time with the book and find himself evaluating his own prejudices. A reader will want to take action ad find a role I what he can do to help prevent discrimination in his own community after finishing the novel.
A reader wouldn’t have to worry about not reading to the culture and history highlighted in the book. Coates explains each event as if his readers were there with him witnesses the violence on the streets or the loveliness of Paris paradise. He would have readers enter his mind as he discovers the history of his race. He’d describe each delightful piece of history he had read and share with his readers his insights.
Themes in the book are police abuse, the American Dream, and human struggle. Police abuse is highlighted with the crimes he and his son witness and know are related to racial discrimination. The American Dream is explained as the ideal hope of all man yet the choices man makes to achieve it should always be questioned and evaluated. Human struggle is what he author describes as the purpose in life. To find out more how he found his purpose through human struggle is a great secret the author reveals and us as the readers to explore through “Between the World and Me”.
Truly “Between the World and Me” will have a good impact on readers because it challenges the readers find their stand and role in today’s issues. It will reveal to readers how racial discrimination is the core to many other issues we face. It will empower them to solve discrimination and prevent it.