The Paranoid Style of American Policing
Read “The Paranoid Style of American Policing” by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Today we will watch Between the World and Me. Select one of the following questions and respond in two to three paragraphs:
The Body: What does Coates say about the precarious nature of his specifically African American body? What dangers does he cite that threaten the safety of his body? Examine the specific instances in which Coates describes his body, the violence enacted upon it, and his attempts to preserve his body and the bodies of loved ones. What explicit ideas about the perceived value of black life do these examples support?
The Dream: What, exactly, is “the Dream” as Coates describes it? Who is able to experience the Dream? What prevents Coates and his loved ones from realizing that same Dream? How does Coates’s version of the Dream differ from other, idealized versions of the Dream favored by popular media, literature, and other outlets? Why might Coates’s aversion to the Dream as it is traditionally conceived be difficult for Americans to accept?
Education: Coates repeatedly finds himself at odds with the American system of formal education. “I was made for the library, not the classroom,” he writes (48). Despite his discomfort with traditional education, however, he expresses a nearly endless desire to learn. What complications and questions do his literacy experiences raise, particularly for a young black man?
Prince Jones: Examine Coates’s description of Prince Jones as a “vessel that held his family’s hopes and dreams” (81–82). Discuss how this description highlights the idea that “Black people love their children with a kind of obsession” (82).
