The Case for Reparations by Ta-Nehisi Coates is an article issue in June 2014. The article is about discrimination, segregation, and racism toward black Americans. Two and a half centuries ago American success was built on slavery. And in present day African American are being discriminated for the color of their skin that even now the wound that black Americans face in their daily life has never been healed or fully atoned for. In this article Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses the struggle African American went through and all the hard time they face in their daily
As Coates departs from Dr. Jones house he thought over the loss of his dear friend. He thinks of the protesters and how perhaps their bodies was abused because they knew that it was not theirs, to begin with. Coates informs his son that it is unlikely that the dreamers will never come to their consciousness. It is clear that racial justice and the dream does not seem to be going away anytime soon, that the black will suffer from inequality and injustice for a very long time. Despite, our society having a former black American president, the media focusing on the protest against police killings Coates sees no prospect of much change.
In an act to affirm the idea that America should claim ownership to the wrongdoing that they have committed on to African Americans for centuries, Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote “A Case For Reparations”. “Reparations”, is essentially the executive decision proposed by a government to alleviate all wrongdoings by granting monetary benefits to the victims that were affected by such wrongdoings. Ta-Nehisi Coates presents the argument that until America recognizes the hundreds of years of enslavement and segregation and systematic oppression, the state of this Country will never be whole. Being a persuasive piece, Coates uses mechanism such as Bible scriptures, factual evidence/statistics, and actual testimonies to appeal to the emotional and logically
“The Case for Reparations”, an article by Ta-Nehisi Coates’, is an example of what not to do when trying to persuade a reader on a point of view. History has shown that since the first slave was brought from Africa and integrated into American society the systematic oppression of African-Americans is forever present but this is a theme that people have heard all too often. In the article, the author generalizes a large group of people, shows close-mindedness and too in-depth a focus on his topic in his writing, and fails to present any opposing arguments which is imperative in a persuasive essay or topic. Generalizing is a key issue in the article “The Case for Reparations” because it weakens Coates’ argument. Although the article uses a large amount of emotion in the writing it puts
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896, 163 US 537) For centuries people of African descent have suffered of inhumane treatment, discrimination, racism, and segregation. Although in the United States, and in other countries, mistreatment and marginalization towards African descendants has stopped, the racism and discriminations has not.
Many people forget that African Americans in this country have been enslaved for longer than they have been free. Coates reminds his son to not forget their important history and that they will continuously struggle for freedom over their own bodies. They must learn to live within a black body. These struggles can be seen in the racial profiling and brutality among police officers in cases such as Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, and countless of others. He goes on to describe his childhood and how fear was the root of black existence.
Even just by reading pages 5-12, I can tell that Ta-Nehisi Coates is a good writer because his essay is highly thoughtful and provocative, and the well-written narrative provides lots of powerful examples to depicts the racial struggle in the U.S. He told his son, “You must always remember that the sociology, the history, the economics, the graphs, the charts, the regression all land, with great violence, upon the body.” The concept of violence upon the body appears on every important point of my reading. This is more powerful than the examples of law enforcement and black Americans because it leads the reader to truly see the the fears provoked.
Rhetorical Analysis Author Ta-Nehisi Coates in his book Between the World and Me discusses impactful racial issues in American history and educates his son on the past and current realities of being a black American. At the beginning of the book, Coates imposes the question: “How do I live freely in this black body?” (Coates 12).
The reparations movement was originally created to primarily help black people gain their own self-sufficiency. The movement began with those like Callie House and Queen Mother Audley, those who wanted African-Americans to heal on their own. They worked for reparations that would help them gain political rights, land, education, their own churches, and healthcare. Most of the movement, the older members especially, believed that the focus should be on helping the members that were unable to help themselves. Over time, as African-Americans started to get educated and started to understand their rights, they began to move towards the political scene and towards more "monetary-based" reparations.
Around the end of the 19th century, there lived many people wanting equality between races. Two main leaders of the African American community that emerged during that time were W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington. All though both of these men were fighting for the same cause, they disagreed greatly with each other relating to the strategies that could be used to create progress in both the social and economic aspects of how African Americans lived and were treated. The two conflicting philosophies of these men are still affecting how we think of racial inequality, social class injustice, and much more; to this day.
Analyzing “The Case for Reparations” by Ta-Nehisi Coates The past is the past, but sometimes the past comes back and bites us on the butt. In Ta-Nehisi Coates’s article, “The Case for Reparations”, Coates describes the wrongful acts done by white supremacists towards African-Americans. Throughout his article, Coates provides strong logos and pathos to his argument. The one issue that he fails to discuss is ethos or credibility towards his argument.
In the book Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome written by Dr.Joy DeGruy she explains how the past events in American history has lead to post traumatic slave syndrome. She explains that the way African Americans were treated during the slave era and after has had an everlasting effect on African Americans. The book goes on to describe how America has been denying its past and has not helped to integrated and level all the playing fields for African Americans. The book brings to light how we can try to contribute in making America a fair and equal place for all as most claim it to be. Through the book DeGruy talks about the four major contributing factors for the reason why America is the way it is.
The African – American 's Assimilation into White America America is often considered the land of opportunities, a place where people can have a fresh start, a clean slate. America is a land that is made up of immigrants. Over the centuries America has been a place where people dream to live in, however the American dream wasn 't as perfect as believed; there were issues of race inferiority, slavery and social inequality amongst other problems. When a person arrives into a new society he has a difficult task ahead of him- to assimilate into that new society- which includes the economical, cultural, political and social aspects. In the following paper I will discuss how the African American, who came as slaves to America, has fought over the centuries to achieve equality in a white society that discriminated them.
In listening to the lecture it is evident that there was unfair treatment with fatal outcome at times of African Americans. Throughout history I have seen the changes made by society and government. African Americans have been heard and continue to be heard as issues occur. I find it hard to describe in words how I feel about the treatment of African Americans in years past.
In his article, Coates argues that the idea of reparations needs to have an important place in discussions of race in America. Coates doesn’t argue that a great sum of taxpayer dollars be given to every African American. It is impossible to come up with a lump sum of money that would pay for hundreds of years of enslavement and abuse. Instead, Coates argues that the idea of reparations is what is important. That African Americans need start considering
Equality has been an issue in the United States for a long time. The article “White Debt,” written by Eula Biss, supports the fact that racial injustice still occurs in America to this day and time. Eula Biss is described as an American nonfiction writer who shares her personal experiences as a white woman through several different appeals to approach the intended audience. The purpose of her “White Debt” article is to inform the audience that enough has been done to people of color by the white people and it is time for reparations. The author argues the importance of changing the precedent in transition to form a civilized generation in the future.