I think the president [Barack Obama] adopted some of that same language, but took it into the White House.
TA-NEHISI COATESI am not asking you as a white person to see yourself as an enslaver.
More Ta-Nehisi Coates Quotes
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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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Better you knuckle up and go for yours than have to bow your head and tuck your chain.
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What I’m talking about is more than recompense for past injustices-more than a handout, a payoff, hush money, or a reluctant bribe.
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Racism is, among other things.
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You don’t just get the good part. You get the bad part, too. You get all of it.
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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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To prevent verifying stereotypes, we pledge to never eat a slice a watermelon in front of white people.
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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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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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The greatest reward of this constant interrogation, confrontation with the brutality of my country, is that it has freed me from hosts and myths.
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I think, as a writer, I’m in my own head.
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Any time you have, you know, upwards of 90 percent of a demographic voting against somebody, that’s a statement.
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Just because you came here in 1880, 1950, whenever, you became an American. You get to celebrate July 4th like every other American.
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Is the Jewish race thriftier than the Arab race?
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Giving opportunities to other people, it’s only right that you might want to, you know, pay that back.
TA-NEHISI COATES






