At my part time job at a bookstore, I was helping a customer who will be attending NC State as a freshman in the fall. It isn’t unusual to run into fellow students while I am working, but this interaction got my attention, and for good reason.
She needed help finding the book for NC State’s Common Reading Program. As I am sure most people know, NC State’s Common Reading Program is an annual program where a book is selected and recommended for all rising freshmen to read.
Faculty and staff are also given the same book recommendation. Reading the book is required for some majors, and strongly recommended for others, and a copy is given out to every incoming freshman.
When I asked her what the book was called, she replied that it was “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates. I was thrilled upon hearing this. NC State’s choice in picking “Between the World and Me” is a decision that is important, progressive, and a step in the right direction for conversations about race on our campus.
In “Between the World and Me,” Coates paints a vivid portrait of his experience as a black man in America, and furthers the conversation by exploring how racism has shaped America’s past and present. When I read the book, I found it to be both poetic and profound; it is an examination of current conversations about race and an exploration into a more hopeful future. It is relevant to conversations and incidents that have happened on campus, and that happen outside of the bubble of our university.
It is no secret that important conversations about race have been prevalent on many college campuses, from protests at schools like Yale and UCLA, to Black Lives Matter demonstrations on our own campus. These demonstrations are vital, and I believe they are necessary, but they seem to be had in a bubble. Students who don’t participate in them or aren’t affected by them tend to walk away freely, ignoring them entirely.
When, last fall, a GroupMe chat containing racist messages between two NC State students was unearthed, there was a consensus of outrage among our community. The outrage at those inexcusable and intolerant messages was more than warranted, but the conversation surrounding them and race on our campus didn’t necessarily seem to change that much.
There was also the infamous Dear White People discourse that happened this spring, in which quotes from the movie were printed on signs around Stafford Commons. The incident seemed to be more of a misunderstanding than anything else, but nonetheless it opened up conversations about race on our campus again, albeit briefly. These demonstrations and incidents show that there are still necessary and difficult conversations to be had about race on our campus. I believe that “Between the World and Me” can open up a dialogue so that we can have them.
The summary on NC State’s Common Reading Program website says many of the same things in explaining why the book was chosen.
“‘Between the World and Me’ lays bare the struggle of an individual to understand his lived experiences in the context of systemic inequalities, most notably racial and social class inequities, which have not been well-addressed in our society,” the website states. “‘Between the World and Me’ underscores the power of a collegiate environment to empower and challenge the exploration of one’s own identities and values.”
In the book, Coates takes the reader on a journey from his childhood to going to college and growing up. He explores life’s lessons through the lens of his own experiences as a black man in a society that still struggles with racism, all while imparting wisdom on his readers. The book is a great choice for the many students who will be entering college and growing up themselves. His perspective has the ability to empower and challenge the minds of the students who will be reading it. For this reason, I believe the book can shape the way race is talked about on campus for the better.
If this book had been read in previous years, maybe more students would have stopped and looked during Black Lives Matter demonstrations, maybe the “Dear White People” incident would have gone completely differently, maybe minds would have opened up and maybe conversations about race on our campus would have progressed even further.
Race is hard to talk about and racism is even harder discuss. I noticed it in my classes last semester, when students would stiffen and fall silent when race relations and current events were mentioned. I have noticed it with my peers who insist that there is no race problem in this country, and that things would be better if racism were talked about less.
I have also noticed it with other peers and friends, who recognize its significance, who know race is important to talk about, now more than ever, and whose day to day lives it affects. Racism is hard to discuss, sometimes hard to recognize and even harder for people of color to live through.
“Between the World and Me” is unabashed, unapologetic and brutally honest in discussing racism and classism in America. I am sure a lot of students will be thrilled to read it, but at the same time, it will make everyone who reads it uncomfortable in some way. It will likely make students uncomfortable with the status quo, uncomfortable with injustice or uncomfortable in trying to understand these things.
That is okay.
These conversations are not easy, but they are necessary. Coates’ book will not make these conversations any less difficult to have, but what the book can do is encourage students to have them. “Between the World and Me” has the ability to open the hearts and minds of all who read it.
As uncomfortable as it may be, these conversations are necessary for our own community at NC State and society at large. I hope the incoming freshmen enjoy it as much as I did. More importantly, I hope they take whatever they learn from it and contribute to the conversation.
