Between The World and Me Summary – Black Lives Matter

Author: Ta-Nehisi Coates

Synopsis
Between The World and Me (2015) has resonated with a lot of people, and we want to get it into the hands of as many people as possible. It is a compassionate, heartfelt plea for the humanization of black people in a society where African Americans are consistently dehumanized. Its author is a brilliant writer who speaks to the hearts and minds of young black men, preparing them for the world.
between the world and me summary
Source: amazon.com

Detailed Summary of Between The World and Me

The story of African Americans in the US is long and complicated. The legacy of slavery and discrimination has shaped it. From the racism that led to mass incarceration, racial profiling, and the use of lethal force against unarmed black men by police.

The book Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates is a text that focuses on the author’s experience with racism and its effects. The book discusses police brutality and how it can no longer be ignored. Through the reading, the author also discusses how black people are discriminated against every day and how they are also perceived.

The book starts with Coates telling his story, an experience when he was pulled over in Prince George’s County, Maryland. This text is one of the best books I have ever read. Not only because it is relatable but because it sheds light on important issues that affect Black Americans.

Between The World and Me Summary Key Points

Even though America has civilized and counted as the world’s most constructed and developed country, black lives still suffer. Undoubtedly slavery and discrimination are illegal, but racism is still there.

The poor black people have to strive to live there. They face psychological trauma because of racism. Americans dehumanize them and show great violence. The following key points highlight black people’s lives in the US and how they survive. Let’s dig into the details to learn more about it.

You might like to read Breath Book Summary & Review

Coates realizes that He has to Cope with the Dangers of Being a Black

Black people were not meant to survive in slavery, and they were certainly not meant to thrive. This brutal history is at the heart of Coates’s new book Between the World and Me, which was published. Coates writes about his early experiences in life.

That made him realize the inescapable truths about being black. Growing up in Maryland, Coates saw the grim realities of racism at a young age. As he puts it, “To be black in the Baltimore of my youth was to be naked before the elements of the world.”

Part of what makes Coates such an astute observer is his choice to see himself from an objective perspective. This sense of objectivity keeps Coates from confusing his anecdotal experiences with universal truths. And while he admits that he looks too often at white faces, his book is not a call for sympathy. Many parts of the book are very uncomfortable to read.

In his memoir, Between the World and Me, Coates vividly describes what it was like to be a person of color growing up in an America full of racial biases. In his candid story, Coates talks about the myriad ways black people are treated as lesser beings and how they inevitably internalize this idea.

But this awareness of injustice never translated into pessimism for Coates. He always held on to a belief that things could be better. This hope had one problem: “I almost never met anyone who thought the arc of history bent toward justice.”

America has different Versions based on your Race

We may all live in same America, but we don’t all live in the same United States. A new study shows that while 64 percent of whites believe the country needs to continue making changes for blacks to have equal rights with whites, only 40 percent of blacks believe they’ve achieved equality in America.

Poverty, unemployment, segregation, and police brutality are just a few issues facing blacks in America. Many of these issues are viewed through a lens that whites can never understand because they were not born into them.

“For a black man, being stereotyped is a fact of life,” says an Africa-based writer and artist who frequently explores issues of identity, race, and gender on Twitter. “Nobody escapes racism. Not even babies.

It’s impossible for whites to understand what it is to be black. We can’t. We’re just not in that shoes. And Until we are, we can never truly understand what it is like to exist as a person of color in America, So we are forced to live mostly blind to the differences in treatment.

However, there are things that we can do to learn. After all, white people don’t know anything about black people, even though both races make up a large portion of the American population.

The American Dream is just a myth

The American Dream is about equality and the opportunity for everyone to succeed. It was made by people who wanted to succeed, and they wanted to succeed at the expense of other groups. The reality is that the American Dream is a myth. It only exists in the minds of those who don’t know history.

The belief that everybody has the chance to succeed in America is a myth. It was invented in Europe, brought to America, and reinforced by blacks. If you look to the past, you will find that the American dream is a white dream.

The first myth of America was white, and whites enforced it. It used racial segregation, slavery, and diseases as its tools. The belief that white people were worth more than black people was passed down through generations until it became so ingrained within Americans that they never saw it as a myth created by their forefathers.

The American Dream was built on the backs of blacks. However, it can only exist if we all participate in its perpetuation. The myth of America is based on two core assumptions:

  • The world would be better off if everyone were white; and
  • White people are better than black people

If you believe those two things, you believe in the myth of America. But even if you don’t believe them, you still support them because you’re living in a country created based on those beliefs.

Between The World And Me Quotes

 “You are growing into consciousness, and my wish for you is that you feel no need to constrict yourself to make other people comfortable.” -Ta-Nehisi Coates

“I would not have you descend into your own dream. I would have you be a conscious citizen of this terrible and beautiful world.” –Ta-Nehisi Coates

Between The World And Me Summary Review

This book is an eye-opener. It’s a great book that everyone should read. Everyone should have equal respect rather than based on race. This book will show you the different positive paths. Highly recommended from my side.

To whom would I recommend Between The World And Me Summary?

  • White people who wonder about racism.
  • Any person who is a sociology student or is interested in it.
  • Anyone who is curious about American history.

Link: https://amzn.to/3ON71kd