Reclamation & Education

Ta-Nehisi Coates’ novel, Between the World and Me, was written as both a letter to his son and a letter to any individual today struggling with their identity—cultural or otherwise. Coates quotes Malcolm X when explaining “if you’re black, you were born in jail.” This stresses a lack of control over “body” and how a constant fear ruminates within the black community centered around their bodies and how easily they can be taken. A strong emphasis is placed on “the body,” “his body,” “the black body,” which seemingly asks African Americans to reclaim their bodies for all that they symbolize—their history, heritage, and legacy—and by extension, America’s history. Coates argues “schools did not reveal truths, they concealed them. Perhaps they must be burned away so that the heart of this thing might be known.” This powerful rhetoric aptly describes how the education system can be viewed as a veil of sorts that highlights only certain aspects of history. When American school children learn about the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech and Rosa Parks’ bus boycott are often the main (and sometimes only) events discussed. Schools constantly emphasize how progressive the Civil Rights Movement was—and yes, it was a radical time when many social policies shifted and laws were re-written—but oftentimes, the movement is placed on top of a pedestal that seemingly claims “everything is great and everyone is equal now.” But can we honestly say this statement is true? Schools don’t often teach the struggles behind those movements: the police brutality, the bombing of churches, etc. Schools, especially elementary schools where children are more easily influenced, don’t often bring up the hardships African Americans are facing in the present. And this can be problematic if the future of America grows up blind and oblivious to the current societal inequalities that plague the nation today.