Analysis Of Between The World And Me By Ta-Nehisi Coates

Every day in America we hear the stories of unarmed black men or boys dying in the hands of police officers and the media portrays these brutal images in our televisions. Rather than focusing on the underlying cause of what morally made it acceptable for police officers to inflict violence on the black body, we find reasons to justify their actions. The storyline brought up to distract the police violence towards the black body is by portraying the victim as a drug seller or a violent person, and these kinds of stereotypes towards the victim overshadow the real problem within our criminal justice system. I will use the book, "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates to examine and understand the challenges African American face, especially

Coate's parents did not only have the role to provide for their child, but it was also their responsibility to protect their son's body from the criminal justice system and the danger of their geographical location. Coates (2015) explains the danger of Baltimore when he states, "To be black in the Baltimore of my youth was to be naked before the elements of the world, before all the guns, fists, knives, crack, rape and diseases" (pg.17). The synergy of the family system was fear which is a mechanism they have developed to survive since they had no laws to protect them. Everyone in the system of Baltimore had lost a child to drugs, violence or jail. Therefore, Coates faced physical punishment constantly from his dad whenever he made any mistakes, and this was a form or a way to create boundaries between him and the criminal justice system. The physical punishment was a method to maintain homeostasis in the family. Coates (2015) explains the words his dad would utter, "Either I can beat him, or the police" (pg.16). His mom also made him write essays to explain himself whenever he got in trouble, so he can learn how to take responsibility and do self-examination. This process taught him introspection and he started the journey of reading books, and finding answers to why black bodies are subjected to violence in America. The school system was also involved

Police officers are more likely to stop and arrest African Americans, compared to other ethnic groups in America, and this has to do with stereotypes. Mainstream media portrays black men as violent, thugs or drug sellers which shapes the perceptions majority of Americans have towards African Americans (Hurwitz & Peffley, 2005). Therefore, these stereotypes become a method to dehumanize and make it acceptable for black people to be treated in a certain way in the criminal justice system. Also, there is a big gap when it comes to how to black people and white people view the criminal justice system because they experience it differently. Whites are significantly more likely to approve police aggression compared to their black counterparts, because they are not subjected to violence from Criminal Justice system (Hadden, Tolliver, Snowden, & Brown, 2016).

As an aspiring social worker gathering these sources, has given me a better understanding of the challenges African American communities face particularly, when it comes to the criminal justice system. When working with this particular group, I have to build trust with them especially in cases where a police officer is working with us. As a social worker when working with a client sometimes we have to work with various levels of systems- and some systems may have betrayed the trust