Between The World And Me

BETWEEN THE WORLD
AND ME
A Reflection Letter To His Son by Ta-
Nehisi Coates
Bertolino-Teaching Between the World and Me 1

2
 The text begins with the word “Son”.
 In the first sentence, the author introduces his first theme: the body. What does it mean to “lose
my body”, according to Coates?(5)
 The book delves quickly into race and gives a working definition on race and racism, saying
“race is the child of racism, not the father.” This is another theme. (7)
 The book immediately launches into a reflection on America and democracy, finding the
answers in American history. Coates believes that “Americans defy democracy in a way that
allows for a dim awareness that they have…stood in defiance of their God.” (6) So the book
also looks at America as a nation with its many contradictions within the political system
(democracy), the idea that it is a God fearing nation, and the names given to people.
 Coates frequently lists names: on page 9, he lists people who have been harmed by police
officers. On page37, he lists what he calls “ancestors”. On page 40, he lists alumni of Howard
University. On page 41, he lists more alumni and noted names who have appeared at Howard
University. On page 44, he lists new writers. On page 45, he lists historians and key figures in
African history. On page 46, he lists more key writers that he hears about at Howard. Making
lists is a decision the writer has made to communicate to the reader about the importance of
names. He also wants people to know these names and their significance. Listing is a literary
tool. (The following three slides shows images of some of the people he names.
 Coates uses the term Mecca as a symbol and a motif throughout the book.
 The name Prince Jones first appears in Part 1. He is an ongoing symbol and motif for the author
and for the reader in this book.

OO
Etheridge Knight
Kenneth B. Clark
Ozzie Davis
C. L. R.
James
Bertolino-Teaching Between the World and Me
3

Kwame Ture Zora Neale Hurston
Sonia Sanchez Queen Nzing
4

Marlene Pinnock
Eric
Garner
Tamir Rice
Renisha
McBride
5

Section 1: Pages 5-71
 Introduction of violence to the Black Body—examples: Coates himself as a child,
Michael Brown, Eric Garner, “the boy with the small eyes (18-19), quest for civil
rights, parental fear
 The irrelevance of intentions: “Good intentions is a hall pass through history, a
sleeping pill that ensures the Dream.
 Coates relationship to Malcolm X who taught him “Don’t give up your life, preserve
your life.” (35)
 Mecca: Howard University, the people he meets, the writers he reads, the history he
studies—all makes a deep impression.
 White matters: “Tolstoy was white and so Tolstoy mattered like everything that was
white “mattered.” (43)
 Meeting his son’s mother who is never named in the book. “She had never known
her father, which put her in the company of the greater number of everyone I’d
known.” (65)
 Feelings on slavery: “Slavery is not an indefinable mass of flesh. It is a particular,
specific enslaved woman, whose mind is active as your own, whose range of feeling
is as vast as your own…who loves her mother in her own complicated way, thinks
her sister talks too loud, has a favorite cousin, a favorite season…and knows, inside
herself that she is as intelligent and capable as anyone. (69-70)
 Coates believes that young Black men are indeed in danger in America, but they
have always been in danger because all Black people have lived in danger since
they were captured to be slaves in America. This is a dangerous place for Black
people. Bertolino-Teaching Between the World and Me
6

Section 1: 5 to 71 Continued
 Coates makes connections to his son and Trayvon Martin. He writes: “you understand that there
is no real distance between you and Trayvon Martin, and thus Trayvon Martin must terrify you in a
way that he could never terrify me. You have seen so much more of all that was lost when they
destroy your body.”(24-25)
 Consider President Obama’s remarks on Trayvon Martin after George Zimmerman was declared
not guilty on July 13, 2013: You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot I said that this could
have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years
ago. And when you think about why, in the African American community at least, there’s a lot of
pain around what happened here, I think it’s important to recognize that the African American
community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that doesn’t go
away. (The copy of the entire speech is on Blackboard.)
 Coates is also discussing fear and violence in terms of the body and the American dream, along
with everyday experience. He writes: “Fear ruled everything around me, and I knew, as all black
people do, that this fear was connected to the Dream out there …to pie and pot roast, to the
white fences and green lawns nightly beamed into our television set.” (29)
 What connection do you see between Coates’ writing about fear and the body along with the
Dream and President Obama’s speech? Why do you think Coates makes this connection
between his son and Trayvon Martin?
• Coates sees education as complacent with the Dream along with the contradictions of good
intentions and deeply felt beliefs: “It does not matter that the “intentions” of individual educators
were noble. Forget about intentions. What any institution…”intends” for you is secondary. Our
world is physical. Learn to play defense—ignore the head and keep your eyes on the body. Very
few Americans will directly proclaim that they are in favor of black people being left to the streets.
But a large number of Americans will do all they can to preserve the Dream. No one directly
proclaimed that schools were designed to sanctify failure and destruction. But a great number of
educators spoke of “personal responsibility” in a country authored and sustained by a criminal
irresponsibility. The point of this language of “intention” and “personal responsibility” is broad
exoneration. Mistakes were made. Bodies were broken. People were enslaved. We meant well.
We tried our best.” (33)
 Coates sees the age of his son and Trayvon Martin. He also looks at the purpose of education in
the young person’s life. He sees contradictions everywhere. Do you agree? Why or why not?
7

Trayvon Martin: February 5, 1995 – February 26, 2012
8

Malcolm X and Coates: Section 1
 Coates admired Malcolm X. He writes: “I loved
Malcolm because Malcolm never lied, unlike the
schools and their façade of morality, unlike the streets
and their bravado, unlike the world of dreamers. I
loved him because he made it plain...in the work of
the physical world. Malcolm…was the first honest man
I ever heard.” (36)
 Coates admired in Malcolm what he wanted for
himself: “He was unconcerned with making the people
who believed themselves white comfortable….He
would not be a better man for you. He would not be
your morality.” (36)
 What does Coates want from Malcolm X? How does
this relate to what he wants from the world? Look at
the pages 34-39. What is Malcolm X doing for the
narrator Coates that no one else has been able to do?
Why are these things important? Is there a Malcolm XBertolino-Teaching Between the World and Me
9

See http://www.malcolmx.com This is his official web site with a lot of
information about his life, ideas and impact.
Malcolm X-born May 19, 1925, died February 21,
1965
10

Quotes from Malcolm X
11
 “They put your mind right in a bag, and take it wherever they want.” — Malcolm X
 “You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he
has his freedom.“PROSPECTS FOR FREEDOM IN 1965,” SPEECH, JAN. 7 1965,
NEW YORK CITY (PUBLISHED IN MALCOLM X SPEAKS, CH. 12, 1965)
 "We declare our right on this earth...to be a human being, to be respected as a
human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in
this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.” Malcolm
X
 "Power in defense of freedom is greater than power in behalf of tyranny and
oppression.” Malcolm X
 "If we don't stand for something, we may fall for anything.” Malcolm X
 "Anytime you see someone more successful than you are, they are doing something
you aren't.” Malcolm X
 "History is a people's memory, and without a memory, man is demoted to the lower
animals.” Malcolm X
 "Without education, you're not going anywhere in this world.” Malcolm X
 “I believe in the brotherhood of man, all men, but I don’t believe in brotherhood with
anybody who doesn’t want brotherhood with me. I believe in treating people right, but
I’m not going to waste my time trying to treat somebody right who doesn’t know how
to return the treatment.” SPEECH, DEC. 12 1964, NEW YORK CITY

Section 2: pgs. 75-132
12
 The shooting of Prince Carmen Jones: We meet Prince at Howard
University. We find out he is a classmate and the boyfriend of a girl
he once dated. In section 1, Coates describes him as a kind person
with a generous spirit. He writes: “There are people whom we do
not fully know, and yet they live in a warm place within us, and when
they are plundered, when they lose their bodies and the dark
energy disperses, that place becomes a wound.” (64)
 Coates is wounded by his death and it forever changes him. He
sees corruption not only in the death itself, but the manner of
investigating the crime. Page 80 describes the details of the killing.
 Coates thinks in terms of the body and loss. He describes “all the
love poured into him. Think of tuitions for Montessori and music
lessons….Think of the surprise birthday parties, the daycare and
the reference checks on babysitters….Think of credit cards charged
for vacations. Think of soccer balls, science kits, chemistry sets,
racetracks and model trains….And think of how that vessel was
taken, shattered on the concrete, and all its holy contents…sent
flowing back into the earth.” (81-82) By describing child raising from
a middle class perspective, Coates lists all the factors that go into
bringing up a child. He wants us to feel the loss not only emotionally
but quantitatively. This is what death does—the investment into
childrearing immediately ceases to deliver.
 This death turned him into an investigative reporter.

Articles on The Prince Carmen Jones Shooting
 http://www.washingt
oncitypaper.com/ne
ws/article/13024148/
shots-in-the-dark
 http://ww2.gazette.n
et/gazette_archive/2
001/200110/princeg
eorgescty/county/46
858-1.html
13

Section 2: 88-99-The Author’s Time in New York
14
 There is a lot going on in this passage.
1. 1. The author is living in a different city.
2. 2. The author is outside his neighborhood in that new city.
3. 3. The author is with his son who is almost five.
 What happens? They went to a theater, and the young Samori is walking with the pace of a four year old onto
an escalator. Coates writes: “A white woman pushed you and said “Come on!” Many things happened at
once.” (93-94) The author later says he felt ashamed.
 Consider the circumstance. “There was the reaction of any parent when a stranger lays a hand on the body of
his or her child. And there was my own insecurity in my ability to protect your black body. And more: There
was my sense that this woman was pulling rank. I knew…she would not have pushed a black child out on my
part of Flatbush, because she would be afraid there, and would sense, if not know, that there would be a
penalty for such an action.” (94)
 Coates notes that a white man spoke up in her defense as she was shocked at his reaction. The man
threatens him with arrest. Coates notices that no such concern was noted for his child. What happened here?
What are the underlying messages? Coates writes: I came home shook. It was a mix of shame for having
gone back to the law of the streets mixed with rage—”I could have you arrested!” Which is to say: “I can take
your body.” (94-94)
 Recreate the scene in your mind. Who was wrong? Who was right? What were the underlying feelings from all
the adults? If we were to do this as a role play, what feelings that adults, particularly urban ones, would be
subject to explore in their reaction?
 This scene explores the author’s ideas of underlying violence, the fragility of the black body, the
disenfranchisement of the American Dream—how easily it can be taken away from the dreamer.
 It also brings him back to his earlier ideas of how he describes discipline in his home and what he saw as the
family’s need to beat their child to protect him or her. (See Section 1: pp. 16-17).

Section 2: A Trip to Civil War Sites: The American Past He
Understands
15
 Coates writes about Gettysburg as a home “to a free black community”.
The advancing army of General Robert E. Lee led Abraham Brian , a free
man, to flee their home, Brian Farm as they feared enslavement, as the
confederate army “was then stealing black people from themselves and
selling them south.” (102)
 Coates writes: “In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body—it is
heritage. Enslavement was not merely the antiseptic borrowing of labor-it is
not so easy to get a human being to commit their body against its own
elemental interest. Enslavement must be casual wrath…the gashing of
heads and brains blown out as the body seeks to escape. It must be rape
so regular as to be industrial. There is no uplifting way to say this. (103)
 What are your thoughts? Look at this passage and think about his views of
slavery and the mark it leaves on American history. Look at his words on
page 104 when he writes “it had to be blood.” What is his evidence on the
page?
 Does reading this section make slavery any more real to you? How does
Coates reinterpret slavery? Why is his account so visceral? How does he
connect it to Trayvon Martin and current events, as he writes: “But because
they believe themselves to be white….they would rather subscribe to the
myth of Trayvon Martin, slight teenager, hands full of candy and soft drinks,
transforming into a murderous juggernaut.” (105) Look at the entire
passage to find the connection the author is making between the past and
the present.

Brian Farm In Gettysburg
16

Section 2: Chicago and Jordan Davis= Plunder
17
 Coates uses these two stories to say more about the American Dream.
 In Chicago, he watches a man and his family evicted from his home.
Coates writes: “His manner was like all the powerless black people I’d
ever known, exaggerating their bodies to conceal a fundamental
plunder that they could not prevent.” (109)
 With Jordan Davis, the teenager shot because he did not turn down his
music, Coates focuses on the boy’s mother along with the casual air of
the man who shot at the car and went to have drinks and pizza in a
hotel. He describes the killer as “having emptied his gun” at the car of
teenagers. (112)
 Plunder: VERB-steal goods from (a place or person), typically using
force and in a time of war or civil disorder: "looters moved into the
disaster area to plunder stores" · synonyms: pillage · loot · rob · raid ·
ransack · despoil · strip · NOUN-the violent and dishonest acquisition
of property: "the farmers suffered the inhumanity and indignities of
pillage and plunder" synonyms: looting · pillaging · plundering · raiding
·
 Look at the two stories and explain why Coates unites them
with the word “plunder”.

Some Thoughts On Section 2
18
 There are many themes throughout the book. Seven of the major themes come
together in Section 2. This section holds the book together.
1. 1. The Dream—The American Dream as Coates sees it.
2. 2. Violence—as an institutionalized expression and part of a system. It is always
simmering, always close to the surface.
3. 3. The Body—that which belongs to the individual and can be taken away (often
through violence). The black body can represent community as well as the
individual.
4. 4. Race and Racism—Race is identity. Racism is an attitude. One could say that
racism expresses how people of different identities interact with each other. It also
is often indirectly expressed through behavior as people cannot distinguish what
they really feel.
5. 5. The Past and The Present—We cannot exist outside of history. The past helps
to define our behavior and current attitudes, along with our problems of
communication and relationships.
6. 6. Parents and Children—The parent must look out for the child while knowing he
(in this case, Coates) is often helpless to prevent the violence that awaits the child.
The parent is the guardian and the observer who puts his hopes for the future in
his child.
7. 7. Fear—Coates describes himself as a man who lives in fear. He sees himself as
wounded. He wants his son to live apart from fear. He believes his past is full of
fear. He sees this fear in the black community within America.
What are Coates’ reflections on America when he goes to Paris? How does it change his
insight into his country and his experience? What does he mean when he writes “I
wanted you to be conscious, to understand that to be distanced, if only from a moment

Various Items In the Book to Remember
 The body
 Mecca
 The Dream
 Violence
 Education
 Intention
 The belt
 Black
 White
 Racism
 History
 America
 Mecca
 Young Black Men
 Parents/Children
 Malcolm X
 Trayvon Martin
 Michael Brown
 Prince Carmen Jones
 Jordan Davis
 His son’s mother (never named)
 The Civil War
 New York City (emphasis on
neighborhoods)
 West Baltimore
 Chicago (South Side, housing
projects)
 Howard University
 Paris, France
Terms-Coates gives them their
own meaning
Names, Events, Places
19

Section 3: The Shortest Section- pages 135-152
20
 This section is devoted to the author’s
conversation with Dr. Mabel Jones, the mother
of Prince Carmen Jones.
 The author wants to tie his story together. We
saw another mother figure in section 2, when
the mother of Jordan Davis said: “You exist.
You matter. You have value. You have every
right to wear your hoodie, to play your music
as loud as you want. You have every right to
be you. And no one should deter you from
being you. You have to be you. And you can
never be afraid to be you.” (113)
 How do these words connect with the
conversation between Dr. Jones and the
author/narrator?

Thoughts on Dr. Jones with the “Dream”
21
 The section deals with her relationship to Prince Carmen
Jones, her own background, her discovery of his shooting
and her state of mind. We are not left with any resolution, but
a portrait of the son and the mother. Why do you think Coates
makes that choice? What were you expecting Coates to do?
What would you have liked him to do?
 Dr. Jones is also worried about the “Dream”. Coates writes:
“She was intensely worried about her daughter bringing a son
into America, because she could not save him, she could not
secure his body from the ritual violence that had claimed her
son. She compared America to Rome. She said she thought
the glory days of this country had long ago passed….They
had been build on the bodies of others.”(144) She says we
are embracing our deaths.
 What do you think of Dr. Jones’ view of America? Would her
view be the same if her son had not been killed? Look at how
he was raised. How is his death a contradiction of the
“Dream”? How is it also an ironic fulfillment? Do we need a
new “Dream”?

Discussion Questions on the Text
1. What is the difference between an
autobiography and a memoir? What do you
consider this book to be?
2. Coates believes that there is a racial gap in
America? Do you agree? Explain how the gap
may exist? Explain how the gap is in the
process of closing.
3. Coates says that he not only cannot tell his son
it is going to be okay, he cannot even tell him
that it might be okay. “The struggle is really all I
have for you,” he tells his son, “because it is
the only portion of this world under your
control.” That being said, in general, is this text
hopeful or is it pessimistic? Is it a combination
of both?
4. Why do you think Coates chose the epistolary
form, rather than that of the traditional essay?
Why do you think Coates wrote this book in the
form of a letter to his son, specifically? How
does the format affect your relationship to the
text? Do you think this format might make
some readers uncomfortable? How might black
readers have a different experience reading
this text than white readers?
5. Consider the title Between the World and Me; it
comes from a poem by Richard Wright, which
is printed at the beginning of the book. To
whom do you think the “Me” in both the book
title and the poem refers? What are the “sooty
details of the scene” in Wright’s poem? How
are these “sooty details” portrayed in Coates’s
book? How is the scene of the lynching a
metaphor in this book?
6. How does Coates define and describe the black
body throughout the book? What does Coates mean
when he refers to the idea of losing his own body?
Consider your own body, and the influences and
individuals that have control over it. How is your
experience similar to or different than the experiences
Coates writes about? Why does Coates include
physical descriptions of black bodies when writing
about slavery and historical racism?
7. Coates identifies race in the United States as a
social construct that has its origins in a history of
violence and oppression. Why do you think this
conception of race is not universally accepted? Who
defines race in America? How do racial boundaries
and categories benefit some people and harm others?
Does race play a role in determining who has political
power, economic privilege, and social benefits? Have
social influences such as race, power, and privilege
played a role in shaping your own personal identity?
8. Why did Coates choose not to comfort his son when
the news broke that the police officer who killed
Michael Brown would not be indicted? What was your
own reaction to this verdict? How do you think people
throughout the country reacted to this decision? How
did this incident spark conversations about race and
police violence in the media and in your personal life?
What have you observed about the Black Lives Matter
movement on the streets of Ferguson, New York City,
Baltimore, and Charleston? How are young people
resisting and organizing locally against police brutality?
22

More Discussion Questions on the Text
 9. Coates writes about the profound fear he felt
growing up in Baltimore, and the sense he had, even
then, that he was being excluded from other, more
beneficial childhood experiences and opportunities.
What unspoken rules was Coates forced to learn?
How do you think these rules affected his experiences
as a child? How does Coates’s childhood compare to
your own? How do childhood experiences affect our
personal stories and identities?
 10.As a young person, Coates witnessed another boy
brandish a gun. He writes, “He did not need to shoot.
He had affirmed my place in the order of things. He
had let it be known how easily I could be selected.”
Why didn’t Coates tell anyone about this experience?
How did this incident affect Coates’s sense of
belonging in Baltimore? How did it affect his level of
fear? Have you ever had an experience that reminded
you of your own mortality? Did you have control over
the situation, or were you unable to prevent it?
 11. Coates writes that public schools in Baltimore
 12. Whenever Coates got into trouble at school, his
grandmother made him write about the incident. He
calls these moments “the earliest acts of interrogation,
of drawing myself into consciousness.” Recall your
own early “acts of interrogation.” How did you reflect
on your actions and your place in the world? How and
why did you choose that particular process of
reflection? How can writing help you both ask and
answer questions, and discover and develop your own
identity? When did you first become aware of your
own racial identity and how it affects your life?
 13.Coates writes, “Perhaps there has been, at some
point in history, some great power whose elevation
was exempt from the violent exploitation of other
human bodies. If there has been, I have yet to
discover it.” What were you taught about America’s
history of slavery and racism? How was it different
than the American history that Coates writes about?
Why are children shielded from learning about
historical racism early in their education? What
prevents individuals from studying racism and
histories of violent exploitation as they grow older?
 14. Coates writes, “Black people love their children
with a kind of obsession. You are all we have and you
come to us endangered. I think we would like to kill
you ourselves before seeing you killed by the streets
that America made.” How does Coates’s description of
parental discipline within the black community
compare to your own philosophy regarding behavior,
discipline, and punishment? What do you think of the
practice of “violence administered in fear and love”?
How is this form of discipline influenced by black
parents’ perceived lack of control over their children,
and inability to protect them?
23

Discussion Questions on the Text
 15. What is “The Dream” that Coates
describes, and who is seeking it? Why did
Coates choose to capitalize “Dream”? How
is Coates’s definition similar to or different
than your own perception of the American
Dream? What does Coates mean when he
writes, “I am convinced that the Dreamers,
at least the Dreamers of today, would
rather live white than live free”? What is
the relationship between “The Dream” as
Coates describes it and both historical and
contemporary racism? What does Coates
believe needs to happen for Dreamers to
“wake up,” so to speak?
 16. One key term that Coates wants to
develop is the idea of betweenness. We
see this in the poem and in the title of the
book. How can you apply the word
“between” to the themes that Coates
develops in the book? What is the author
“between”? What is the “world”? What is
“I”? Do we all live in a state of
betweenness? How does this apply to
what he calls the “Dream”? How does it
involve his relations with white people?
How does it apply to law enforcement?
Can you think of other instances in your
own life in which you felt you were
“between the world and yourself” because
the world was unable to understand you
and meet your needs? What else does it
mean to be “between the world and I”?
 Please note: I will be updating these study
questions as more occur to me.
 Some of these questions I have taken
from the sheet provided by Random
House Academic Resources. Other
questions are my own.
24

Between The World And Me

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