Reparations would mean the end of yelling “patriotism” while waving a Confederate flag. Reparations would mean a revolution of the American consciousness, a reconciling of our self-image as the great democratizer with the facts of our history.
TA-NEHISI COATESAny time you have, you know, upwards of 90 percent of a demographic voting against somebody, that’s a statement.
More Ta-Nehisi Coates Quotes
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I think President [Barack] Obama deeply underestimated the force of white supremacy in American life.
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Part of that is ordinary African-Americans, you come out of your house and you see the conditions in your neighborhood and you see, folks in your neighborhood doing certain things that, are irresponsible.
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I am not asking you as a white person to see yourself as an enslaver.
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Reparations would mean the end of scarfing hot dogs on the Fourth of July while denying the facts of our heritage.
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It was made that way. And what you have is a system in which people are there to be exploited.
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The symbolism was in – and this sounds really, really small, but it’s actually big for African-Americans – the symbolism was not in being an embarrassment, but to being a figure that folks were actually proud of.
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You can live in the world of myth and be taken seriously.
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What sets black people apart is not some deficit in personal responsibility. It’s the weight on our shoulders. That is what’s actually different. We have the weight and burden of history.
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You know, it felt like him reverting back to what was in his bones and that’s, you know, optimism and a deep belief in, you know, American institutions and the American people.
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[Winning the White House was an achievement], but as an African-American, [Barack Obama], I think the symbolism is in how he conducted himself.
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What it is is that Barack Obama was raised by a white mother and two white grandparents who, A, told him he was black and that there was nothing wrong with being black.
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And they necessitate that of the bodies destroyed every year, some wild and disproportionate number of them will be black.
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Never forget that for 250 years black people were born into chains-whole generations followed by more generations who knew nothing but chains.
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I think the president [Barack Obama] adopted some of that same language, but took it into the White House.
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In particular in how [Barack Obama] has directed what you could describe as patronizing remarks to African-American communities.
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