I think, as a writer, I’m in my own head.
TA-NEHISI COATESMore specifically, Barack Obama is the president of a congenitally racist country, erected upon the plunder of life, liberty, labor, and land. This plunder has not been exclusive to black people.
More Ta-Nehisi Coates Quotes
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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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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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My mom used to tell me, I can’t use this phrase on the radio – but basically don’t be one of those dudes hanging on the corner.
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The Knowledge Rule 2080: From maggots to men, the world is a corner bully.
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What I’m talking about is a national reckoning that would lead to spiritual renewal.
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To prevent verifying stereotypes, we pledge to never eat a slice a watermelon in front of white people.
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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.
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When you have a policy of making sure that African Americans cannot build wealth, of plundering African American communities of wealth.
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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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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.
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If George Washington crossing the Delaware matters, so must his ruthless pursuit of the runagate Oney Judge.
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All you need to understand is that the officer carries with him the power of the American state and the weight of an American legacy.
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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 .
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Lot of folks like to mock dumb history, and pretend it’s just a few idiots. Isn’t. It’s the country.
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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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