Americans have come to overlook their chaotic past, present, and future to the point where racism has become embedded in the natural fabric of their glorious red white and blue legacy of “torture, theft, and enslavement.”(Coats 6) Ta-Nehisi Coats wrote his book, Between The World And Me, after his draft of The Case For Reparations, as a letter for his son. In The Case For Reparations, coats emphasize the indubitable fact that the racism man created will always sustain the corrupt democratic nation that is America. Coats continues with this idea in his book Between The World And Me by painting a picture of blind piousness for a nation that was built on hatred and gluttony. As a result, no one person can excuse themselves from the racism that is embedded in all of us.
“Americans deify democracy in a way that allows for a dim awareness that they have, from time to time, stood in defiance of their God. but democracy is a forgiving God and America’s heresies – torture, theft, enslavement – are so common among individuals and nations that none can declare themselves immune.” (Coats 6) Being blind to our history, and expecting those catastrophes the ideal white man has created to be ignored, forgiven, and later accepted by the public is what it means to be American. That is the issue, we forgive those who should be punished, and we punish those who did nothing but walk down the street, reach for their wallet, or even simply just put their hands up as they were told. Whichever way you look at it, this is the nation that we deify and unconsciously represent.
The concept of race is thrown around as a natural component of the real world when in reality it is yet another man-made enslavement to a lifetime of racism. Ta-Nehisi Coats continues to bluntly inform his son about the roots of this deeply seeded battle against his body and America. “Racism- the need to ascribe bone-deep features to people and then humiliate, reduce, and destroy them- inevitably follows from this inalterable condition. In this way, racism is rendered as the innocent daughter of mother nature … But race is the child of racism, not the father.” (Coats 7) It is easy to say that race is just a part of the diversity that makes up America. But in reality, it is another stealthy way to cover up for segregation and modern the Jim Crow that is affecting our neighborhoods and is repeatedly being ignored. Why? Because it is a part of us, it is a part of life, and dictates the future of minorities. With the constant wars against ourselves and our own kind, the only way to really get by is to conform to the social constraints inflicted upon us.
As Ta-Nehisi Coats said in his interview on being Black in America, “find your peace within the chaos of the world.” Which is exactly what he explained to his son in his book, “…this is your country, that this is your world, that this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it.” (Coats 11,12) One of his lessons, or pieces of advice to his son, is to simply just conform and hope for the best. What else can be said? With the millions of white and blue collar crimes being recognized as an act of pride and safety, it is dangerous to create more chaos trying to unravel thousands of years of this racism that is sewn into the fabric of our nation.
