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Summary Of Between The World And Me

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In Between the World and Me, the author, Ta Nehisi Coates, attempts to show how school systems work to support systems of oppression. As he reflects on his own personal experiences in the Baltimore public school system, Coates views his education as one that works to prolong social injustice and inequality. Coates grew up in Baltimore and attended public schools before going to Howard University. Throughout the book, he explains how the system was and still is unjust. Coates explains the situation he grew up in and how he always felt trapped in his classrooms. This could be explained by the lack of funding given to his school, which was predominantly black in the heart of Baltimore. Because of this, Coates feels that he was not given the same …show more content…

This was his issue with public schooling. He was a child that loved to learn and read, but when he went to school he felt trapped and robbed of a true education. Rather than preparing him for life, he viewed his public- school education experience as one that focused more on obedience and discipline. Instead, he believes the school system should enhance students critical thinking. While Coates resentment is rooted in several different concerns about modern education, one of his primary criticisms focuses on how schools are “designed to sanctify failure and destruction” (Coats 33). He states throughout the book that public school for blacks was a place to go to get off the streets and stay out of jail, not to grow intellectually and get jobs. Coates explains that because of this, it is hard for African Americans growing up in poor education systems to get out off of the streets and go to college. As Coates points out, this is especially true for young black men because nearly 60 percent of all young black men who fail or dropout of school go to jail. For Coates, this is not coincidental; instead, it reflects a failed system that disproportionately impacts the poor as well as racial and ethnic …show more content…

The research reveals that segregation has been a problem in American for a long time. African Americans and minorities alike are continuing to be oppressed and there has not been much change. Even though Brown vs board ruled for integrated school, segregation is still embedded in our culture. Minorities are being oppressed in which they are receiving a significantly lower education that white people are. In fact the main goal for minorities is for them to stay off the streets and to try and graduate. The school system does not set them up for a prosperous future or prepare them for things like

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