Between the World and Me
By Ta-Nehisi Coates
"Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a framework for understanding our nation's history and current crisis. Americans have built an empire on the idea of 'race,' a falsehood that damages us all but falls most heavily on the bodies of black women and men -- bodies exploited through slavery and segregation, and, today, threatened, locked up, and murdered out of all proportion. What is it like to inhabit a black body and find a way to live within it? And how can we all honestly reckon with this fraught history and free ourselves from its burden? Between the World and Me is Coates's attempt to answer these questions in a letter to his adolescent son." - HELM
Why was this book challenged?
Banned book element tile
Reasons: Racial Content
This acclaimed memoir was removed from an advanced placement course in South Carolina in spring 2023 after several students wrote to the school board, saying it made them feel “ashamed to be Caucasian.” The removal was allowed under a recent state law that bans classroom discussion of “divisive concepts” related to race and sex.
Ways to read this book at STCC!
Members of the STCC community have full borrowing privileges at the STCC Library, located in Building 19, 2nd Floor, provided they are actively registered in the college system and their records are in good standing.
Database access and e-content is available to all students, faculty, and staff using the following credentials:
Username: STCC ID number
Password: Last name in capital letters.
Additional Resources and Accessibility
If you prefer to listen to your books, or if the print or EBook versions of this book are checked out at STCC, you have additional checkout options through Massachusetts public libraries. CW/MARS and Boston Public Library eCards will give you access to EBook and Audiobook versions of this book. You can also download the Libby app to listen to audiobooks on your smartphone. These resources are outside of STCC Library, please consult your local public library for any questions regarding these outside resources.
Check public libraries in Western Massachusetts via CW/MARS:
Residents of Massachusetts can sign up for a Boston Public Library eCard, to access their digital materials such as eBooks and downloadable audiobooks. Follow the instructions on the BPL's website: