Racial Profiling in 'Between the World and Me' Essay

The thing that’s wrong with the world is hate. Hate is an ugly thing from racism to homophobia to transphobia to other religions and so on. While growing up I was taught to show everyone respect and kindness I figured the world was all butterflies and rainbows you know, like everyone was just nice to each other but as I got older, I realized how cruel people were to one another. I’ve witnessed people being bullied because of how they dressed, because of their sexuality, or because of their race. In the book Between the World and Me, Coates waited till his son was old enough to understand how the world is. Coates writes him a letter and explains how the Dream everyone talks about controls society. His version of the Dream is being white and the dreamers he refers to are the people who believe themselves to be white. Throughout the book, Coates is helping his readers understand what people of color went through and this makes us think about how the color of our skin plays into the system that’s in place. He uses pathos and logos to create a strong argument about how the Dream impacted his life and those who lived inside the Dream.

America was built on the exploitation and oppression of black people rather than freedom and equality. For centuries, black people were enslaved, and they had to work in horrific conditions as service, agricultural and domestic workers. They had to do all the work the white people didn’t want to do and when they tried to escape the Fugitive Slave Acts ensured that if fining officials caught them, they could torture, mutilate, and even kill them without any legal consequences. Even when the United States had put an end to slavery black people still got the short end of the stick when it came to things like jobs or simply going to school. They would be paid less than a white man and wouldn’t be allowed in the same school as white people. Throughout time, black people did eventually get the same rights as white people but to this day they still face challenges from authorities who are white.

Coates's example for this is when he says, “And you know now if you did not before, that the police departments of your country have been endowed with the authority to destroy your body.” (9) This makes me think of current times and the Black Lives Matter movement. For example, the shooting of Oscar Grant. Oscar was a 22-year-old black male who had been out celebrating New Year’s Eve when he was pulled off a train by the police, he was unarmed and was cooperating with them as well as his friends that he was with. In the video that was released, you see Oscar obeying the officers, they then dragged him from the wall and pushed his face into the floor. One of the officers pressed his knee into his neck as the second officer shot Oscar in the back and then handcuffed him instead of performing any first aid. The officer said he meant to shock him with his taser not shoot him. There are many cases similar to Oscars and the officers get away with it a majority of the time because they “feared for their life” or “they meant to grab their taser” which is complete bullshit. White officers think they have the right to do whatever and it seems like they can because it’s always their word against black people, Mexicans, etc. Not much has changed, police are still destroying black people’s bodies. This brings us back to when Coates states, “The police departments of your country have been endowed with the authority to destroy your body...the destroyers will rarely be held accountable. Mostly they will receive pensions” (9). Situations like Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Renisha McBride, and so many more innocent souls provoke pathos and make for a solid argument that this country isn’t as great as we think it is.

Due to such violence, Coates feared for his life as he was growing up. He had feared that he would be killed because of the color of his skin and then he feared his son would be killed by the Dreamers. Coates states, “The truth is that the police reflect America in all of its will and fear, and whatever we might make of this country’s criminal justice policy, it cannot be said that it was imposed by a repressive minority. The abuses that have followed from these policies—the sprawling carceral state, the random detention of black people, the torture of suspects—are the product of democratic will”. (78-79) As he grew up in Baltimore, he felt naked and exposed because he knew that the law didn’t protect him or anyone else of color. The police acted a certain way towards him and many others making it seem okay to be hateful towards anyone who isn’t white. As a result of this, he didn’t know how to protect himself either because no one seemed to care for people of color. So, he wants his son to learn and understand that “in America, it is traditional to destroy the black body—it is heritage”. (103) He wants his son to know he has to be ready for any hate that comes his way because of the color of his skin, and he has to be careful because not many people are kind due to the way people will a higher power treats them. Take Emmett Till for example, he was a 14-year-old boy who was lynched in 1955 after he was accused of offending a white woman. The woman’s husband and half-brother then threw his body into a river that was discovered 3 days later. That September an all-white jury found the two men not guilty of the kidnapping and murder of Emmet, they then publicly admitted to the murder in 1956 with Look magazine even then they got away with his murder.

However, the Dream is different for white people. The Dream to them is their suburban homes, picnics, soccer games, etc. Since the dream is so easy for them to live, they don’t pay any mind to the others who struggle to live it as well. Instead of trying to understand their situations and treating them fairly, they make it harder for them to live. I believe white people don’t understand what other races have to go through. For example, we had a few discussions in class where two white students said they believe police officers get so much shit and that all of them are painted as bad due to things like the Oscar Grant case and others like his. I think they didn’t see where a black person was coming from when they talked about police brutality. These students don’t have to worry about being harassed because of their color. I mean a black person or a Mexican has a higher chance of being pulled over than a white person does.

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The Sandford Open Policing Project collected and standardized over 200 million records of traffic stops and search data across the United States. This project data had reported officers stop and search black and Hispanic drivers based on little evidence compared to what they require to stop and search white drivers. It’s said that white drivers are more likely found with illegal things. For example, if someone is pulled over for speeding and they are black they’re 20% more likely to get a ticket instead of a warning, Hispanics are 30% more likely to be ticketed than white drivers. Black and Hispanic are twice as likely to be searched compared to someone who is white. (Colorlines) I included this because it all goes back to the whole white privilege aspect of the Dream. I’ve heard many cases of a white police officer shooting. A black driver in their car because they “feared” for their life. For example, there was a man who got pulled over and the officer asked for his I.D. and registration as the man reached for his glove department to get his papers, he was shot dead because the officer thought he was reaching for a gun and he feared for his life. This officer was sentenced to 5 years in prison and 3-year probation, but he was given credit for 17 months for pleading guilty. In the video that was shown you can see the black male trying to follow his orders, the officer’s lawyers then said it was because of his PTSD. This is completely dumb he should have been given the full 20 years because he shouldn’t have returned to work until he was fully mentally stable, due to this a man lost his life for no good reason.

Coates's book and his version of the Dream seems to be hard for many to accept at that time. Coates says at the beginning of the book “American does not claim the banal. America believes itself exceptional, the greatest and noblest nation to ever exist…” (8) This to me is crazy to think that people believe this country is great. How can it be great when people who hold a title such as the police and president and at the point of time other white people have destroyed a large number of black bodies are never held accountable for their actions and to this day they still aren’t? White people are always given the benefit of the doubt whereas black people are seen as if they deserved everything bad that has happened to them. I see it a lot today in current times especially at work sometimes a black teen or adult comes on and has the hoodie on, and the store managers will announce “Security scan all cameras please” but when the role is reversed they say nothing and its ALWAYS their white customers stealing. An employee had even falsely accused a little black boy of coming in all the time and stealing and the managers said a vague apology to the adults the boy was with and didn’t even talk to the employee who accused a little kid. There is a double standard that plays in society and race is the one many people constantly refuse to recognize but they’ll draw attention to double standards of how a boy and girl are raised like this is so crazy you would think things would have gotten better and people would respect one another but it has only gotten worse are our president promotes hate.

Between the World and Me is a real eye-opener and I got to see the real truth and got to see what has happened in that time. The way Coates uses connotative and denotative language helps illustrate and make his points clear for his readers. His use of words makes for a very strong argument that in our society we aren’t divided because of our bank account but by the color of our skin. During the time of the book Coates says the poor as well as the rich had belonged to the upper class and being part of the upper class meant they were all respected and treated as equals because they were white.

Due to these two divisions, the black body was broken continuously because they were taught had no meaning whereas a white person always had meaning. This is something that needs to change and for this change to happen people of higher power like our president and police officers need to treat everyone with respect. This hate has gone on for too long and it's sad to think it might never come to an end. Some people fear for their life as well as their children because of all the hate, things were supposed to be better as time passed but it seems like things only got worse.

America was built on the exploitation and oppression of black people rather than freedom and equality. Though is true and many were hurt and killed because of this this does not have to be the result. We the people have to use our voice and fight for what we want and that is change. We cannot erase our past and rewrite our history though we try so hard to forget all the pain we’ve gone through to get the same rights and respect as white Americans we can fight hard to change our fate, so we don’t suffer the same fate those before us have.

Works Cited

1. Coates, Ta-Nehisi. Between the World and Me. Text Publishing Company, 2015.
2. Bulwa, Demian, and Rachel Swan. “10 Years since Oscar Grant's Death: What Happened at Fruitvale Station?” SFChronicle.com, San Francisco Chronicle, 28 Dec. 2018,
3. https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/10-years-since-Oscar-Grant-s-death-What-13489585.php.
4. https://youtu.be/Q2LDw5l_yMI
5. Saxon, Shani. “New Report Analyzes Racial Bias in Police Traffic Stops.” Colorlines, 29 Mar. 2019, https://www.colorlines.com/articles/new-report-analyzes-racial-bias-police-traffic-stops.
6. Associated Press. “Ex-State Trooper Who Shot Unarmed Black Man Reaching for Wallet Gets 3 Years in Prison.” WCIV, WCIV, 15 Aug. 2017, https://abcnews4.com/news/crime-news/ex-state-trooper-who-shot-unarmed-black-man-reaching-for-wallet-gets-3-years-in-prison.