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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.

Ta-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 COATES

Addressing Amount Bait Black Century Fail Failing Government Ignore Moral People Switch
I am not asking you as a white person to see yourself as an enslaver.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Ask Country Enslaver Past Person White Yourself
Humans also tend to find community to be pleasurable, and within the boundaries of community relationships, words.
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Boundary Community Human Ironic Pleasurable Relationship Self Word
You can live in the world of myth and be taken seriously.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Live Myth Seriously Taken World
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 COATES

Color Concentrate Country Effect Instead Melanin Paired Poverty Spreadma Cross
These were the days when I powerfully believed Breyers and Entenmann’s to be pioneers in the field of antidepressants.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Belive Day Field Pioneer Powerfully
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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Apart Black Deficit People Personal Responsibility Some
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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Built Communities Country Giving Make Opportunity People Plunder Policy Sure Wealth
The Knowledge Rule 2080: From maggots to men, the world is a corner bully.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Bully Corner Knowledge Men Rule World
You know, the thing I always think about, you get up early in the morning to go to work and there’s some dude outside drinking and you come home and the same dude is outside drinking hanging on the corner. And then this engenders a level of anger I think and a level of shame.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Always Anger Corner Dute Early Engender Level Morning Ousdidem Drink Outside Shame Thing
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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Country Feel Many People Person Police Skepticism Towards
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.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Condition Drinking Folk Home House Morning Neighbourhood Ordinary Country Part See
[Barack Obama] grew up in Hawaii, far, far removed from the most, you know, sort of violent, you know, tendencies of Jim Crow and segregation. He wasn’t directly exposed to that. He was untraumatized.
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Celebrity Country Crow Hawaii Know Man Most Personality President Remove Segregation Tendency Violent
Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal.
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Country Equal Humdres Separate Slavery Two Year
I think the sad fact is, there’s a long history in this country at looking at African-American as subhuman.
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Country History Long Look Said Thinking
[Grew up in Hawaii] that gave [Barack Obama] a kind of optimism, an ability to see things, you know, and frankly, an ability to trust, you know, in his fellow, you know, white countrymen in a way that I, for instance, you know, and the vast majority of black people I know never really could.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Ability Frankly Gave Optimism People Thing Trust White

[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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[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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Popular Authors

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