Ta-Nehisi Coates: Conflict Between The Streets And The School System

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Ta-Nehisi Coates writes about the conflict between the streets and the school system that young black Americans had to deal with. Coates describes how black people have to survive in their respective conditions in America before they ever even have the chance to escape the streets. The core principle of the culture of black Americans growing up in cities is primarily just to secure their body, and survive. Coates further goes on to describe the everyday conditions of the streets. He writes that no one survives unscathed. Any given day can essentially turn into a near death experience, and some people become addicted to this “thrill.” These were the people who turned their fear into aggression, and were the ones that were the threat to others. …show more content…

Coates writes, “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” (25). Coates resented the schools just as much as he resented the streets, just because what he learned at school couldn’t be applied to anything in his life. He uses his French class as an example; it is just unnecessary for a black man in America to learn French. Furthermore, Coates explains that school was merely an escape from the streets rather than a place to educate yourself and think about improving yourself for your future. The schools concealed the truths of the world more than revealing them to students. Coates uses the powerful statistic of 60% of all black men who drop out of high school will end up in jail. This represents all the people that protected their bodies from the streets rather than from the schools. Black people were stuck, not being violent enough could cost them their body and being too violent could also cost them their body. If one failed in the streets, he would get killed, if one failed in the school system, he would get sent back to the streets, and get killed, there was no

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