Brief Assignment 2- Rhetorical Analysis on “Letter to My Son”

    In the world we live in today, minorities are afraid of the consequences they will have to face by the government simply because of their skin color. In America, we have a long history of racism and injustice. In the article “Letter to My Son”, Ta-Nehisi Coates beautifully expresses his concern as a father to an African American child. Published on July 4, 2015, in Washington D.C. the author writes about the American Dream and everything it stands for. 

    In the Declaration of Independence, it starts with “We The People”,” to clarify that the document is intended for Americans and the law applies to them. Coates talks about how “We the people” did not include him, his son, or his grandparents. He speaks on the political issue of racism. Even if an African American is born and raised in America, they are not given the same treatment that a white person gets in America.  Published on July 4th, the reader can feel that Coates intentionally chose a day when Americans are ironically celebrating independence day and living the American dream. Coates goes on to discuss a question that an interviewer asked him about whether this event of an American cop hugging an African American child is hope for racism to end. 

    Ta-Nehisi Coates usually writes about white supremacy and African Americans. He is famous for the book “Between the world and me” and the article “Letter to my Son.” I can assume that he has a lot of experience with the genre he is writing about because he usually writes nonfiction novels and stories about his life and experiences. The article “Letter to My Son” is written for his 15-year-old son with hopes of advising him about the world he lives in and the truth about being an African American. He says that his son does not know much about the truth of America and questions everything that has happened around him. He sees injustice but does not know why this issue is happening. As a writer, writing based on experiences and advising a significant person in your life is important and can captivate the audience. 

    The government and people are cruel to minorities and immigrants. Coates speaks forcefully about how this cruelty is to his race in particular. “And you have seen men in uniform drive by and murder Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old child whom they were oath-bound to protect. And you know now, if you did not before, that the police departments of your country have been endowed with the authority to destroy your body.” He tells his son that a little girl was killed by a cop without reason just because of her color.  But through all of that injustice, he makes it clear that it is his body, his world and he should make the most of it and learn how to live through it all. “The greatest reward of this constant interrogation, of confrontation with the brutality of my country, is that it has freed me from ghosts and myths.” Learning about how the world works has made him more aware and know how to be more careful with what he does. 

    He has made the purpose of writing this article clear because he gives a lot of examples and a lot of scenarios that explain that. For example, his son saw on the news that the killers of Michael Brown were not being punished. The father knew that there was not going to be a punishment but the son still believed. He went to bed crying and instead of the father comforting him he told him “that this is your country, that this is your world, that this is your body, and you must find some way to live within all of it.” This advice showed this injustice is not going to end anytime soon. There is not a great deal of hope for this issue to change because unfortunately, that is just the way some people think. However, his son could always make the most of it.

    Coates lets his son know that everything he has seen is because of the inequality that is happening in America. This advice makes me feel sad that this is the issue that is happening in the world that we live in. In the article, he continues to provide examples that shine a light on the truth and do not sugarcoat anything. The author intends for that emotion to be felt. He wants to let the readers know that this is the sad truth but we have to keep going and make the most of the time we have in this world. To captivate the audience, this is a good strategy to have because people learn more and appreciate the text more when there are no lies or hidden details. The main idea of this article is that even if we live in this unfair world, this is our body and our country too. His son fears for his own life because of the racism so he should be careful and always do the right thing and avoid issues but always live his life.

 

    The feeling of the author in his choice of words is fear and concern. He fears for his son’s life in the future. He shares “ I feel the fear most acutely whenever you leave me. But I was afraid long before you, and in this I was unoriginal.” This fear has been with not only him, I’m but everyone else that is his same color. He gets scared when his son leaves the house because one day, he might not come back because of all of the injustice in this country. Based on the words “I was unoriginal”, the author suggests that this isn’t a new feeling. It’s a feeling that many throughout history have felt. He lets his son know not to look away from all of this injustice and always do the right thing. He goes on saying “And now, in your time, the law has become an excuse for stopping and frisking you, which is to say, for furthering the assault on your body.” After reading this text, I am left with a sad emotion because everything he said was true but also a sense of awareness and motivation to make a change so that parents can stop being afraid for their sons or daughters. It’s also scary that laws were meant to make people feel safe, yet it is used to create fear for certain races. If he would have a different tone, I would not feel compassionate towards him. When you learn about racism in school, it is always sugar-coated. The only time that we get the truth is when a tragedy happens and people are forced to have a protest or when we read books from others who speak on white supremacy and racism. This article would never be shown in school because it shows that laws aren’t always used for good. The laws only protect a certain race.  The key to engaging and having people understand your purpose is to have a tone that explicitly shows that. Also, it is important to not sugar coat anything and shine a light on the truth even if it’s contradicting or problematic. 

    The article influences my own writing skills because I like writing about social, cultural, and political issues. When writing an article, it’s important to write from your own experience and based on facts. I will apply Coates’ writing techniques of speaking from personal experience and while weaving in facts that are not overwhelming but informative nonetheless.

 

Work Cited Page 

Coates, Ta-Nehisi. “Letter to My Son” The Atlantic 2015