Ta-Nehisi Coates paints the bigger picture of race and racism throughout American history and the prevalence of it in modern society within his book Between the World and Me. This work rips into the unfairness that has plagued blacks in America for decades. Coates’ book is a letter meant for his son, Samori, who is growing up and experiencing a fear brought upon by the perception of race as not only an aspect of his life, but as his whole reality. The letter shows the similarities and differences between the experiences of Ta-Nehisi and Samori and gives the former’s interpretation of the idea of “race”. The first part of the book from pages 5-39 strongly supports the overall theme of race and racism of the book by setting up themes used throughout the entire book and the use of particular words and/or word phrases to further amplify the effect.

The book starts off with the host of a popular news show asking Ta-Nehisi why he feels that white America’s progress was built on looting and violence. His written reply in the book was American history, which is understandable as one looks back at history to see what built the product of today. What’s more interesting is the wording he uses to describe why his answer was American History: “When Abraham Lincoln declared, in 1863, that the battle of Gettysburg must ensure “that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth,” he was not merely being aspirational... the question is not whether Lincoln truly meant “government of the people” but what our country has, throughout its history, taken the political term “people” to actually mean.” (Coates, 6). Coates starts off the book by analyzing a well-known phrase through American history and how one word has been misconstrued throughout all of history. What Coates is trying to say is that the word “people” through American history doesn’t include all Americans, but only what the country deems fit as “the people” which automatically brings the serious theme of prejudice into the mind of the reader. 

Almost instantly, Coates brings up the major theme of the book and gives an interesting perspective on it. “Race is the child of racism, not the father. And the process of naming “the people” has never been a matter of genealogy and physiognomy so much as one of hierarchy” (Coates, 7). The selection of detail in this quote strongly supports his purpose to inform on what racism really is. When reading the first part of the quote, most would think racism is born from there being separate races but what Ta-Nehisi is saying is that race wouldn’t even be considered if there wasn’t such thing as racism. Coates does a tremendous job in forcing the reader to think beyond the standard conception of racism being born from the various races. The quote brings falseness to the word people think they know of as “race” and this becomes a reoccurring trend that sets up the book. 

Samori Coates tweeted out on April 3, 2017 that the inspiration for the book was his own devastation upon the fact that the police who murdered Michael Brown was exonerated. In this part where Ta-Nehisi talks about that day, he writes to his son that “I heard you crying. I came in five minutes after, and I didn’t hug you, and I didn’t comfort you, because I thought that would be wrong... this is your country, this is your world, this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it... and the pursuit of this question, I have found, ultimately answers itself.” (Coates, 12). Although this letter was meant for his son, this message also can apply to readers seeking the same answers. Readers can use this to ultimately start their journey on finding answers they may have needed. Although there isn’t any high level language in the quote that might need analyzing to why the author chose that word, the whole quote can be analyzed as to why he chose to say this to his son instead of consoling him. The reality of it is, that’s the best thing he could’ve done for his son at that moment. Giving him a false sense of security only deepens the blow when Samori finds out on his own about the injustices of the world. There is a very realistic tone being used to talk to his child, rather than the usual parental tone and words that “everything is going to be ok”.

In Part 1, Coates later goes on to talk about his life growing up on the streets and the dangers of them. “The street transforms every ordinary day into a series of trick questions... yet the heat that springs from the constant danger, from a lifestyle of near-death experience, is thrilling. This is what the rappers mean when they pronounce themselves as addicted to “the streets” or in love with “the game”.” (Coates, 22). Coates again takes ordinary sayings and brings an awakening to the reader when one knows the reality of that saying. The words at the end with rappers saying they’re “in love with the game” is so commonly used yet not so commonly interpreted. Coates brings a true realization to the reader when talking about life growing up as black on the streets. The reason he chose this way to organize his story is to show how life is while young and black and the dangers of it already. This should be thought of as “background information” he gives early on in the story to further setup and enhance the rest of the story. 

As this part of the book goes on, the author shows an internal frustration within him about the reassessment of the Civil Rights Movement. “The black people in these films seemed to love the worst things in life—love the dogs that rent their children apart, the tear gas that clawed at their lungs... Why are they showing this to us? Why were our heroes nonviolent? I speak not on the morality of nonviolence, but of the sense that blacks are in special need of this morality” (Coates, 32). Throughout the book, the author has been mad and frustrated, but has presented it in a calm and collected way. Since this part is a reflection of his younger self, he portrays a more angry outlook on the world. The line “the black people in this film seemed to love the worst things in life: love the dogs that tear their children apart, the men who rape them, the women who cursed them” portrays a real annoyance the author has. Analyzing the last sentence, the author put this in because he almost feels as if this nonviolence act is a joke. The author is probably feeling that since Americans back then were cruel to blacks, why should blacks take the nonviolence approach? This stance is hard to understand, but Civil Rights activist like Martin Luther King Jr. chose nonviolence because if they fought with violence, they’d not only lose, but further perpetuate the false idea of blacks as “savages”. In the quote however, since Coates was younger, he didn’t have the wisdom to understand that and had a mad tone throughout the rest of that particular thought process. 

The language used throughout the first part of Between the World and Me really sets up the whole book to be successful. With a strong start on many controversial topics, Coates really exposes the society of America within the topic of racism. Not just reading, but deeply analyzing Coates words makes the reader understand not only his, but also the lives of many others. This book is great on destroying a fantasy set-up, or as Ta-Nehisi references to it in his book “the Dream”. Breaking this illusion known as “the Dream” is crucial in positive progress forwards this issue.