The Dream We Choose to Live In
Liam Voycey 12-06-19 English O’Connor The Dream We Choose to Live In In the eyes of Ta-Nehisi Coates, the dream is a state of oblivion in which the brutal history of enslavement is justified or forgotten to remove any guilt one might have. He depicts this dream as white picket fences and Sunday barbecues in which white people are asleep to the damage they have inflicted upon African Americans. On Page 29 Coates says, “Fear ruled everything around me… this fear was connected to the dream out there.” I don’t think this fear is one of violence or death, but more of a realization that white people believe that their actions have been justified. The dream then becomes a nightmare when looking upon the divide between the white picket fences and the slums of utter poverty. Coates analyzes this sense of justification of slavery on page 33 where he says, “ Mistakes were made. Bodies were broken. People were enslaved. We meant well. We tried our best. “Good intention” is a hall pass