Between the World and Me is a true-life-based book by Ta-Nehisi Coates, written in 2015. It is a letter from Coates to his fifteen-year-old son about racism faced by blacks in the USA. It is a nine-chapter book describing the incidences that happened in the immediate environment of the writer. Everyone intending to know about the historical racism practices in the US can read the book. The book aimed to sensitize people to the realities of being black in the USA.
Between the World and Me is part of the individual narrative and national history and reflects current racial aspects. In the book, Coates effectively shows the stem of the racial discrimination against blacks in the US. He describes how the black slaves were forced to work on cotton farms. The oppressors enslaved blacks for a longer time than when they were free. They lynched tear gas and water hoses towards the people when they were trying to fight for their rights. The author depicts the racism in learning institutions, among the police, and even the danger of living that black people face. The writer perfectly recapitulates the historical injustices the black people living in the USA have been subjected to. His letters also address the father-son relationship, education, and quest for identity.
Based on the evaluation, the thematic concerns like racism addressed in the book perfectly reflect some incidences in modern-day society. The matters depicted correlate to the challenges that black people in the USA face, with George Floyd being one of the recent police injustice and racism incidences. White police killed the Black man by stepping on his neck while lying on the ground. The writer depicts how he constantly lived in fear because of police brutality. The author sharing personal and other stories of people around him enables the reader to see the world in his own eyes.
In conclusion, the dominant themes addressed in the book are racism and the historical injustices the blacks have suffered. The depiction of racial discrimination in the book creates a sensitization within the reader to avoid racism. Reading the book makes one sympathize with the character in the book. The psychological trauma the character experienced because of racism makes the reader advocate for avoiding discrimination. The writer carefully develops the plot to show the way the Americans mistreated the blacks. My overall impression is that I am happy that the author does not shun away from mentioning what the blacks have faced since the historical period.