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Valerie Gonzalez

Professor Huerta

English 1T

13 February 2018

The Time for Change

Over centuries, the United States has become the home to over millions of people of all

cultures and skin colors. Some of these families were born here and some immigrated to this

country with the hopes of a creating a better life for their families but what all these individuals

have in common is the American Dream. The United States developed the American Dream

and it can be described as a “Universal Goal” of all Americans. The endless stories of being

able to acquire a home, being able to achieve financial stability and the guarantee of having

countless of opportunities is why the American Dream has become so popular. Since I was a

child, this is how society presented the American Dream to me but over the years I realized the

foundation of the dream wasn’t fair. But I do feel that working towards a dream of any sort can

push one harder to succeed.

A journalist from Baltimore, Maryland by the name of Ta-Nehisis Coates wrote a book

in a letter form to his son, Samori Coates titled, Between the World and Me and it has caught

the world's attention. Ta-Nehisi Coates is an educated African American man in his forties,

living with his wife and son in New York City and has created and maintained a quiet and

modest life for himself and his family there. In the book, he gives his son advice on how to

navigate himself through life and he shares his very well developed ideas and beliefs towards

the American Dream. Coates’ definition of the American Dream is it was created through
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violence and systemic oppression of all African American people and he believes it cannot be

attained by all. Coates’ describes those who continue to believe in this Dream as “the

dreamers” and they are individuals that are blind to the truth and believe themselves to be

“white.” His definition of “to be white” does not represent the color of skin in all its essence

but it does represent what comes from “being white” which is being privileged, superior, and

better than. Coates’ explains that believing in the Dream can be dangerous and disappointing

for people of color because this system does not protect or provide for people of color as it

does for whites. I’m of two minds about Coates’ claim that we should wake up and abandon

the American Dream. On one hand, I agree that the American Dream has not been accessible

or attainable for all African Americans throughout history and today. On the other hand, we

should not completely abandon the hopes of having an American Dream but we should

reconstruct the Dream by raising awareness about the realities Coates writes of.

Americans today tend to believe that the public school system is one of the greatest

inventions of all time. Individuals feel that our nation has provided us with public education, so

that we all have an equal and guaranteed opportunity of being educated. The reality is, the

quality of public school education varies in communities, and in black communities the public

school system offers students a very poor education. It can be described as a system that is

designed for people of color to fail. Coates’ state, “But the fear and violence were the

weaponry of both. Fail in the streets and the crews would catch you slipping and take your

body. Fail in the schools and you would be suspended and sent back to those same streets,

where they would take your body” (33). This shows that educators of public schools in colored

communities have failed to connect and help guide their students. The public schools in these
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communities are so bad that they are described with the violence seen in the streets. These

educators have failed to take into account what their students have to deal with in their

everyday lives whether it be at home, their communities, school, and even on their way to

school. Instead, these educators will label the African American students that continue to fail

as bad students and eventually these students are turned back to the streets. This shows a fixed

mindset from educators because they give up on students rather than giving them the extra help

that they need, which can also transfer onto students mindsets. These students of color can

begin to have a fixed mindset towards their abilities and it results in making them feel

incapable and not smart enough. The purpose of a school is to provide us with a safe and

inviting environment, where we want to come and learn but this corrupt system has failed to

provide people of color with proper public education. Individuals like Coates’ are merely the

survivors because they received the extra push they needed at home.

It has become common today to dismiss the violence that largely prevails black

communities. The police departments turn their heads the other way as violence continues in

black communities and they continue to make it their primary duty to ensure safety and a

strong sense of trust with white communities. The police departments have failed to provide

protection for colored people and they have neglected to take personal accountability for the

crimes they have committed. The black individual views law officials as the enemy because

their people have been brutalized and killed by them. Coates’ emphasizes, “And you have seen

men in uniform drive by and murder Tamir Rice, a twelve-year-old child whom they were

oath-bound to protect” (9). Coates’ text supports my stance that the system itself remains old

and corrupt. The murder of an innocent twelve year body can never be justified or excused but
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sadly our society excuses it. In our history, one could get away with lynching a person of color

and in crimes today, it has become socially acceptable for a person in a uniform to take away

the life of a person of color. The basis of this Dream was meant to provide protection for all,

yet we see societies struggling to survive and an ongoing violence continues to rise.

Through uncontrollable violence, comes fear and through fear more violence occurs.

Violence itself can severely damage a person, even if they are not the ones committing the

violent acts of crime. Fear can alter the mind of any person, but for a person of color this fear

alters their minds entirely and rules everything around them. The fear they experience in their

communities can make them aggressive, passive, or constantly alert. Coates says, “Even in

Paris, I could not shake the old ways, the instinct to watch my back at every pass, and always

better ready to go” (126). Coates’ shows that this constant fear and need to be alert and aware

of your environment never goes away. The fear that all these people of color feel is permanent.

As a result, the power of fear can create restraints on who these colored people will become

and how they carry themselves. The Dream assures us safety but they have not provided us all

with safety.

Although the American Dream has proven to be all but a Dream to African Americans,

I still feel we should hold onto the hope of having a Dream that can help us all prosper in our

lives. The Dream we have today has only served as a motivation for individuals of color to

push through obstacles and work harder. It has also taught people of color to seek opportunities

on their own terms, since those opportunities are not handed to them. In the same way, Coates’

urges his son, Samori to be conscious, a hard worker, and to find his own opportunities. It is a

fact that most of the colored people in these communities will not advance to have higher
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educations and that some will fall as victims to law authority or their own people. But for those

that escape this fate in one piece as Coate has, I believe it is a responsibility to speak up. Like

Coates, I believe as people of color, we should never forget our history and our present because

it is a huge part of our identity. But as residents of the same nation, we should not accept what

our society is wrongfully doing to us. In order to recreate and adopt a new Dream, we need to

raise awareness of these harsh realities like Coates has. Coates may state that he has given up

all hope towards the Dream but his book itself can be perceived as a sign of hope towards a

new Dream. And initial acts of hope can place us on the road to change.

Overall, I believe as a nation we need to be educated on the history of our country and

we need to acknowledge the wrongs that our country continues to do to African American

people. But as residents of this country too, I strongly believe we should have the same rights

and we need to stand up for our rights. Coates has warned us of the dangers that law

enforcement and the world places on people of color which is why I think writing and giving

speeches are powerful. I feel like Coates has underestimated the power of his words. As a

colored woman in America today, I don’t feel like I have been denied many opportunities or

refused the Dream, but through compassion and understanding I can truly understand Coates’

views. The hope change and understanding ultimately lies on the generations of Samori and I,

and I hope that Coates is here to see that day come.

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Works Cited

Coates , Ta-Nehisi.​ Between the World and Me.​ Spiegel & Grau , 2015.