Monday, October 2, 2017

Socratic Seminar Online: Ta-Nahisi Coates Question #1

     This fear distorted Coates's life in multiple ways. For example, when he and his friend were in Paris, he made sure that his friend was walking in front of him, to make sure that his friend wasn't going to turn the corner and get him killed or hurt (Page 126). He is constantly afraid of his surroundings and has learned to be wary of the people and things around him. The fear of getting stopped by the Police and getting killed, the fear of being shot by a kid in school, all of that contributes to the fear that is living in America. This fear makes the American Dream dead. This fear makes you realize that the white, rich people are living on top, with all the power in the world, and the minorities are on the bottom, constantly being criticized and struggling to try and touch some of the power which they'll never be able to do. This fear, I believe, is not inevitable. It really depends on the person. I don't have to fear the police or being shot on the street because I'm Asian, I don't have the fear that black people, or even Mexican people have. Mexican people won't have the fear that Asians and black people have. Fear is inevitable, this kind of fear isn't.
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7 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 2, 2017 at 12:03 PM

    I agree with your response. The only problem I have is with your explanation as to why this type of fear is not inevitable. The purpose of this response was to utilize the book to analyze whether or not Coates believes that this fear is inevitable, with your use of personal experience, it takes away from the point that the author was trying to prove. Obviously, the prompt was up for interpretation, but I feel that your response added too much opinion to the last question, and provides no real evidence as to why this fear is or is not inevitable in regards to the book. :)

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    1. Justin MagdaluyoOctober 2, 2017 at 12:11 PM

      Ta-Nahisi Coates's fear is inevitable to the African Americans living in and growing up in America because of white supremacy and Eurocentrism. Because their skin is darker than those white people, and they live in a different part of town, means that they are automatically less than the white people. An example of White Supremacy would be when the officer killed Prince Jones and got away scot free. A black man wouldn't get away with blatant murder.

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  2. UnknownOctober 2, 2017 at 12:11 PM

    I agree with your ideas and like your reasoning and evidence. This fear did stay with him even when he had his son. This fear doesn't apply to everybody due to different life styles but fear does exist and fear is different for everyone. Also on the question if fear is inevitable you should include the opinion of Ta-Nehisi Coates and not just rely on your personal experience.

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  3. UnknownOctober 2, 2017 at 12:12 PM

    I strongly agree to your response because no matter when and where Coates was he was always distorted when it comes to doing something not just alone but also in society itself. Coate constantly tries to fit in society by adapting to wthers, but some way and somehow it never works.

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  4. UnknownOctober 3, 2017 at 9:10 AM

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  5. UnknownOctober 3, 2017 at 9:10 AM

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  6. UnknownOctober 3, 2017 at 9:13 AM

    I do agree with your ideas on "fear" as described in this book. Some people are within the "elite" class, and therefore have nothing to fear. On the other hand, people in the "lower" class, typically minorities, are subject to fear of the higher class as they have the power to do anything to them, including death.

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