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
TA-NEHISI COATES
Ta-Nehisi Coates on campaign
Ta-Nehisi Coates77 quotes“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 .”
More from Ta-Nehisi Coates
Is the Jewish race thriftier than the Arab race?
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates 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.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates [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.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates 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 CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates I don’t know how you bridge that contradiction, but I felt that Barack Obama was sincere. It didn’t feel like a line to me.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates I think President [Barack] Obama deeply underestimated the force of white supremacy in American life.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates I think the sad fact is, there’s a long history in this country at looking at African-American as subhuman.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-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.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates 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.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates 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.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates I think the president [Barack Obama] adopted some of that same language, but took it into the White House.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates 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 CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates Racism is, among other things.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates 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.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesTa-Nehisi Coates
Original quotes
From our community writers
Forgiveness comes after understanding & understanding comes after acceptance.
Tom MetcafeTom Metcafe Someday your pen will write a revolution. Until then, write your pain.
Fareena AliyaFareena Aliya Time is precious. So are the people in your life. So love and be loved. Because tomorrow is never promised.
Jenny AJenny A Thank you for still being there for yourself. For being strong. For being resilient. Keep going.
Yohan AcostaYohan Acosta There will never be a day, I am not thankful for the fire you brought to my life that still warms me to the bones.
Mark AnthonyMark Anthony You could have shook my whole world luckily I became aware, and I took a turn.
Emma SchippersEmma Schippers Be strong enough to bloom even in the storm.
Safna SulaimanSafna Sulaiman There is magic in the minuscule.
Holly DuxburyHolly Duxbury
Meet the writers
More on campaign
Election campaigns always have to have colour and excitement and interest.
Liz TrussLiz Truss Throughout my campaign for Congress, I promised the people of Northwest Georgia that I would be the strongest defender of gun rights on Capitol Hill.
Marjorie Taylor GreeneMarjorie Taylor Greene Even in the 1950s, President Eisenhower was concerned about what he called a campaign of hatred of the U.S. in the Arab world, because of the perception on the Arab street that it supported harsh and oppressive regimes to take their oil.
Noam ChomskyNoam Chomsky The life of a swarm of bees is like an active and hazardous campaign of an army: the ranks are being continually depleted and continually recruited.
John BurroughsJohn Burroughs Personally I ride a bicycle, travel by train and bus and campaign tirelessly for a car taxation system that will hammer ignorant, selfish, petty, fat, spoilt, stupid car abusers into giving up their addiction and walking.
Giles CorenGiles Coren So every day till the end of this campaign, Ill answer any question anyone has on government, but if you have a question on religion, please, go to church.
Alan AldaAlan Alda The Brady ‘Campaign Against Illegal Guns’ is yet another crusade whose ultimate goal is to trample the Second Amendment into dust.
Alan GottliebAlan Gottlieb People have a right to be nervous and fearful. They heard what Trump said during the campaign and are wondering if he`ll follow through on his promises.
Al SharptonAl Sharpton