How Coates makes his work accessible for a general audience.

In Ta-Nehisi Coates’s “Letter to My Son” he makes his work accessible to the general audience even though his clear intention is to write a letter to his son, Samori. In my opinion, the work becomes accessible to the general audience because of the shared perspective between the author’s son and the general audience. When Coates describes Samori, he describes him as young and optimistic. Plus, throughout the letter Coates is informing him of society and educating him on how to navigate through the world as a Black man. Regarding the general audience, since the letter was published in The Atlantic news article, I assume that the general audience are Americans and at the time the majority of Americans were uneducated on racial construction and struggles African American face. Coates describes this in further detail when he refers to them as “Dreamers”, those who live in a state of ignorance due to their privilege. Because they are both oblivious of the harsh realities of racism and oppression against African Americans and Black people in the United States, Samori and the general audience share a similar perspective of reality. So, by delivering his message to his son, Coates effectively speaks to the wider public about topics such as racism and power structures.