At every stage of the author's life, he's sought answers to the mysteries of history that surrounded him -- most urgently, why he, and other black people he knew, seemed to live in fear. What were they afraid of? This book is a letter to his adolescent son and in his trademark style -- a mix of lyrical personal narrative, reimagined history, essayistic argument, and reportage -- Coates provides a new framework for understanding race: its history, our contemporary dilemma, and where we go from here.