Quotes:

  • “Fail to comprehend the streets and you gave up your body now. But fail to comprehend the schools and you gave up your body later” (Coates 25.)
  • “Fully 60 percent of all young black men who drop out of high school will go to jail” (Coates 27.)

 

Comment:

            In reference to my first quote, you can find it about mid-way through our reading of Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I found it interesting that this quote can be found after a paragraph that Coates wrote to his son acknowledging that they grew up in two different Baltimore societies. His own was a place where he was in constant concern for his physical safety and focused on protecting his physical well-being. Whereas his son, he believes, is growing up in a society that not only knows of the injustice shown toward the black community, but wishes to take action against it. After this paragraph, Coates brings up my first quote opening a window to the mentality he adopted as a young boy.

            It was this mindset that blew me away. Working in the world of education and hoping to become a primary school teacher within the next year, I am very deeply invested in the power of education. This quote truly exemplifies its power. Young children growing up in similar situations at Coates, came of age with a defensive mindset. Their primary concern what to protect their physical wellbeing, according to Coates. However, I found it particularly interesting that Coates saw no way out at the time. In his mind his only choice was to give up his body now or later. Though I understand why growing up in such an environment can cultivate such a mindset, it pains me to think that not even a century ago and even to this day people are put in such situation.

            This brings me to my second quote of the reading. I chose to include it because this is a statistic I am very familiar with. The school to prison pipeline is a very real thing that many young black people see the ramifications of. I was glad that Coates brought it up following my first quote, because it gives his readers evidence that supports why young people growing up in such circumstances would grow to have mindsets similar to Coates as a young man. This fearful street life that did not foster an education focused view point often resulted in incarceration of thousands of young people across the country. However, if our society would have been able to assist these young people in finishing their high school education we would as a whole be better off as a society for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, incarceration is much more expensive than education. By focusing our resources on developing strong education systems we as a nation will save millions of dollars a year. Second, by assisting these people in acquiring a diploma we are raising our eligible work force therefore boosting our overall national economy. The benefits are endless when it comes to choosing education, therefore I was glad that Coates was able to share this with his readers and his son.

 

 

 

Question:

            Coates discusses the use of different disciplinary actions in his schools. Why do you think students of color are more likely to receive harsh punishments for misbehavior? What about children with special needs? If yes, how do we change this?