This feeling African-Americans have, this skepticism towards the police and the skepticism that the police show towards African-Americans is actually quite old. And it may be one of the most durable aspects of the relationship between black people and their country really in our history.
TA-NEHISI COATES
TA-NEHISI COATES
Ta-Nehisi Coates on feel
Ta-Nehisi Coates77 quotes“This feeling African-Americans have, this skepticism towards the police and the skepticism that the police show towards African-Americans is actually quite old. And it may be one of the most durable aspects of the relationship between black people and their country really in our history.”
Filed under
More from Ta-Nehisi Coates
An unsegregated America might see poverty, and all its effects, spread across the country with no particular bias toward skin color. Instead, the concentration of poverty has been paired with a concentration of melanin.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates Racism is, among other things.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates I want to be really, really clear about this. It doesn’t mean that everyone or even the majority of people who voted for Donald Trump are racist or white supremacists or anything like that. But what it means is that it’s not a mistake that Trump began his campaign with birthersism .
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates I did not know then that this is what life is – just when you master the geometry of one world, it slips away, and suddenly again, you’re swarmed by strange shapes and impossible angles.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates 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.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates Segregations, by which I mean people living in a certain area, was a planned system.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates I am not asking you as a white person to see yourself as an enslaver.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates The unearned skepticism of one group of humans joined to the unearned sympathy for another.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates Often ironic and self-deprecating – are always spoken that take on other meanings when uttered by others.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates I would flip this the other way and say over 90 percent of African-Americans voted against Donald Trump.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates The essence of American racism is disrespect.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates 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.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates Addressing the moral failings of black people while ignoring the centuries-old failings of their governments amounts to a bait and switch.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates You don’t just get the good part. You get the bad part, too. You get all of it.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates You can live in the world of myth and be taken seriously.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates Barack Obama is the president of the United States of America.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates
Original quotes
From our community writers
Our only limitation is that we only believe what is visible to our eyes and audible to our ears.
Shilpa GoelShilpa Goel Some days, you will be close to the finish line and still not make it.
Sonia SabnisSonia Sabnis Life-transforming ideas have always come to me through books.
Bell HooksBell Hooks I separated someplace for each person in my heart, But she claimed to be the owner of it.
Moses AlexanderMoses Alexander Modern-day love stories are born not out of love, but a tired mind and a restless heart.
Puneet MehraPuneet Mehra Forcing things only creates more tension in the mind. Let go.
Ayaka HaseAyaka Hase It doesn’t take courage to find peace in the arms of destiny. It takes faith.
Anamika GargAnamika Garg I can’t wait to collect memories from every corner of the earth to splash in the vastness of this beautiful world.
Julia Kellogg HenryJulia Kellogg Henry
Meet the writers
More on feel
In England, football is a big thing to talk about, but Liverpool, it’s a special place. You feel it when you make your first step.
Jurgen KloppJurgen Klopp I’ve had surgery on my knee and both feet and my elbow.
John DalyJohn Daly Life is too short to be little. Man is never so manly as when he feels deeply, acts boldly, and expresses himself with frankness and with fervor.
Benjamin DisraeliBenjamin Disraeli If you want special results, you have to feel special things and do special things together.
Jurgen KloppJurgen Klopp Man takes root at his feet, and at best, he is no more than a potted plant in his house or carriage till he has established communication with the soil by the loving and magnetic touch of his soles to it.
John BurroughsJohn Burroughs I don’t mind hitting the ball bad, but when I feel like I’ve hit the ball pretty good for four days and shoot an 81, it’s not golf.
John DalyJohn Daly My first win feels better than a draw!
Jurgen KloppJurgen Klopp Coming down the 18th, your heart’s pounding, and the hair is sticking straight up on your arms – there’s no feeling like it.
John DalyJohn Daly