I think, as a writer, I’m in my own head.
TA-NEHISI COATESWhat 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.
More Ta-Nehisi Coates Quotes
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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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The progressive approach to policy which directly addresses the effects of white supremacy is simple.
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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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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.
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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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The standard progressive approach of the moment is to mix color-conscious moral invective with color-blind public policy.
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I am not asking you as a white person to see yourself as an enslaver.
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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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And I think, like, there’s a crucial difference between being, you know, Joe Schmo in the neighborhood and being the head, you know, of the government that, you know, in many ways is largely responsible for those conditions in the first place.
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I mean, the president, you know, at one point when he was campaigning said I believe that Donald Trump was not qualified to run a 7-Eleven.
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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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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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I would flip this the other way and say over 90 percent of African-Americans voted against Donald Trump.
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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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And I think that’s reflected in the fact that, when we have problems that really are problems of employment, that are really problems of mental health, that are really problems of drugs, our answer is the police.
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