1.)“Race is the child of racism, not the father” (7). Let’s puzzle through what Coates might mean by this. To do so, we need to grasp a bit of how the idea of White as a race emerged – and how Black as a race emerged. We need to read more than just that sentence or that paragraph in Coates. It might help if we ask why Coates uses language like “believing themselves white” or “raised to be white.”

1.) When Coates says this, he might mean that over time, this distinction of black and white was the result of the collective desire to create an “us” and “them”. Whether this was intentional or not, the desire of separation, or the feeling that one race was better than the other, led to the idea that there was such a thing as race. Race could be easily used to mark others as different, which made it easier to create more differences between race then there originally was. The idea of race being put above things like country of origin/nationality meant that the color of a person’s skin could be used to determine certain stereotypes about a person. Although it is unclear why people felt the need to place people into categories, maybe to make more clear cut lines between people perceived as different, something as obvious as someone’s skin color made them incredibly distinguishable. In this way, Coates is saying that the concept that one race is better or superior to another is what led to the idea of race in the first place, not the other way around.

Body. Find two places where Coates focuses on the matter of the body. Why do you think the “body” seems to loom so large for Coates? Explain.

2.) One place where Coates focuses on the matter of the body is on page 19, where he describes a boy not too much older than him pulled a gun on him. “There the boy stood, with the gun brandished, which he slowly untucked, tucked, then untucked once more, and in his small eyes I saw a surging rage that could, in an instant, erase my body.” Then again on page 24, where he says “I recall learning these laws clearer than I recall learning my colors and shapes, because these laws were essential to the security of my body.” In both of these instances, Coates recalls fearing for the safety of his body. This idea seems to loom so large for Coates because it is the one thing that can’t be replaced. Being robbed does not destroy a person mentally as much as having their body taken from them. Constantly fearing for their body takes a mental toll on people that is different than just normal stress. This creates a constant sense of fear that people attempt to cover with aggression or anger. The fastest way to hurt somebody is by showing them that they are powerless when it comes to protecting their own bodies.

The “Dream.” This idea is important throughout the book. Let’s find a passage in our section where Coates discusses it and start to figure out what it is and why it might be important. Quote and offer your provisional/preliminary explanation or thoughts.

3.) Coates discusses the “Dream” on page 11, where he says that “I have seen all my life. It is perfect houses with nice lawns. It is Memorial Day cookouts, block associations, and driveways. The Dream is treehouses and the Cub Scouts.” After he describes this dream, it is implied that this is basically the ideal life in America, but that this Dream can only be lived out by white people, and that blacks will never be able to achieve it. He establishes what he says is basically an impenetrable wall between the “good life” and the life of blacks in America. Although to me this does seem like the American dream, and it could be due to my own lack of exploration and experience, but in recent years, I don’t believe that it is completely impossible for blacks in America to gain the life that they want and deserve. I do think that black people make up a disproportionate amount of the poor class in America, but I also think that there are many successful black people today. I could be wrong, but this is based off of my own experiences, and I haven’t exactly done any research on the topic.

Freebie. Find one passage of interest to you. Maybe it’s something you don’t understand. Maybe it frustrates you. Maybe it seems really important to you. Quote and explain a bit. We’ll have an opportunity in class to share some of these to discuss.

4.) I chose a passage on page 11 “And knowing this, knowing that the Dream persists by warring with the known world, I was sad for the host, I was sad for all those families, I was sad for my country, but above all, in that moment, I was sad for you.” I chose this because it confused me a little bit. I don’t really understand why Coates says that he is sorry for white people, the country, and the person he is addressing in the book. Does he feel bad that people don’t know the whole truth? Does it have to do with the Dream that he mentioned? Is he saying that this Dream that some people live in is not the same as the real world, and if this is the case, isn’t each person’s reality the world they live in?