Coates describes the relationship between education and success as a tense subject. The societal pressure of an African American in his background to be successful in the street, but also the societal pressure to be successful in education. Coates challenges what this relationship means to him and where he fits in. Educationally, he believes that schools set up rules for young children to learn how to be compliant in the world, but not learn what it is like to be a person in their lifestyle (growing up in Baltimore). He notes that, “The world had no time for the childhoods of black boys and girls. How could the schools? Algebra, Biology, and English were not subjects so much as opportunities to better discipline the body” (Coates 93). Education in Baltimore does not care to teach children the realities of their life, but the compliant behaviors to live in a Caucasian society. Coates doesn’t have resentment towards the streets because there are no set rules or compliance, actions are based on morals and obvious choices. The streets also do not care what the color of your skin is, it cares about how strong you are and whether you survive. This causes Coates to act out against the rigid and racist structure of education. There is a power struggle between success in education and success in the street for Coates. To succeed in one means to fail in the other, but he must be successful to survive in both. Race plays into this because the education system isn’t built to accommodate all lifestyles and racial backgrounds. It is more structed on the everyday lives of white people and their plights, ignoring the larger minorities.
The form of Coates excerpt shows the personal message to his son but the larger message to African Americans everywhere. He uses personal pronouns and direct language towards his son through examples like, “Your grandmother taught me to read when I was four” (Coates 94). This is able to impact his writing and display that it is the format of a letter or conversation with his son. He is able to also convey a larger message by the use of “us” in his letter I believe. It brings in a larger and more general audience, in this case it would be young African American children;more specifically those growing up in low income or gang-related areas. He is able to speak on the behalf of his own childhood experience in education to portray a reality for many African American children. The use of pronouns and his own experience allows Coates to create a closer relationship with his audience, as if he speaking directly to them also. This allows his writing to have more of an impact on the audience and become personal to them.
