Describe symbolism in What We Cannot Speak About We Must Pass Over in Silence by John Edgar Wideman

The coyote that prowls the outskirts of the prison is given significant emphasis in the story. It is a predator, but harmless to the guards. The guards laugh at the coyote until one of them, who is evidently having a bad day, casually shoots it. The coyote becomes a symbol of both the narrator, in his cautious and fearful approach to the prison, and black people, who are mercilessly hunted down if they encroach on white territory. Their lives, like the life of the coyote, are seen as cheap and disposable.