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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 .

Ta-Nehisi Coates

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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Black Chain Follow Forget Free Generation Knew Nothing Year
Giving opportunities to other people, it’s only right that you might want to, you know, pay that back.
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Back Giving Know might Opportunity Other Pay People Right Want
Segregations, by which I mean people living in a certain area, was a planned system.
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Area Ceratin Mean Opportunity People Planned Segregation System
[E]mpathy – not squishy self-serving conflict avoidance – is the hand-maiden, not the enemy, of reason and intellectual inquiry.
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Avoidance Conflict Empathy Hand Intellectual Maiden Self Serve
It was a week after Donald Trump had won. And initially he was still optimistic. He felt that things would be OK ultimately. And I have to tell you, this is the area where, you know, I see, you know, some degree of contradiction.
TA-NEHISI COATES

After Believe Country Optimistic People Person President Running Won
Barack Obama is the president of the United States of America.
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Country Land People Person President State United
The standard progressive approach of the moment is to mix color-conscious moral invective with color-blind public policy.
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Approach Blind Color Conscious Invective Moment Moral Policy Progressive Public Standard
They’re right there waiting for it. A community of people who’ve been denied wealth, denied wealth-building opportunities, are right there. And the banks went right after them.
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After Bank Community Denied Opportunities People Right Wait Wealth
I’m asking you as an American to see all of the freedoms that you enjoy and see how they are rooted in things that the country you belong to condoned or actively participated in the past.
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Actively Ask Belong Country Freedom Long Participate Rooted
In particular in how [Barack Obama] has directed what you could describe as patronizing remarks to African-American communities.
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Community Country Describe Direct Particular People Person
Reparations would mean the end of yelling “patriotism” while waving a Confederate flag. Reparations would mean a revolution of the American consciousness, a reconciling of our self-image as the great democratizer with the facts of our history.
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Democratizer Fact Great History Image Reconciling Self Yelling
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
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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Bribe Dog Handout Injustice Mean Money Payoff Recompense Spiritual Talk
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.
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Always Anger Corner Dute Early Engender Level Morning Ousdidem Drink Outside Shame Thing
I think President [Barack] Obama deeply underestimated the force of white supremacy in American life.
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Country Force Life People Peron President Supremacy Thinking Underestimate White
[Donald Trump] went on to, you know, otherize Muslims, otherize Latinos, otherize women, that he built out from that. And it can be true that a unique, you know, individual like Barack Obama can succeed in spite of that and still be the case that that force is quite, quite strong.
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Built Country Know Muslim Out Person President Strong Succeed Unique

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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Popular Authors

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 .

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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