PLEASE NOTE: This is a key takeaways and analysis of the book and NOT the original book. Start Publishing Notes' Summary, Analysis, and Review of Ta-Nehisi Coates's Between the World and Me includes a summary of the book, review, analysis & key takeaways, and detailed "About the Author" section. PREVIEW: Ta-Nehisi Coates's book, Between the World and Me, is an autobiographical account of being black in America and, perhaps more importantly, is also a letter to his son, Samori. After learning that the police officer who killed Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager, would face no punishment, Samori becomes upset and Coates decided to write him a letter. The first part of the book begins with Coates explaining that Americans believe that race is a natural phenomenon. Coates corrects this misconception and instead explains that the process of assigning race to people has never been about genealogy or physiognomy, but about establishing hierarchy. Race resulted from racism, not in reverse order. Similarly, Coates writes that whiteness is also a modern invention, predicated on superiority over other minorities.