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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.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

All you need to understand is that the officer carries with him the power of the American state and the weight of an American legacy.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Black Country Legacy Need Numbers Offer Power State Understand Weight Year
What I’m talking about is more than recompense for past injustices-more than a handout, a payoff, hush money, or a reluctant bribe.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Bribe Dog Handout Injustice Mean Money Payoff Recompense Spiritual Talk
[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
Talk about class and hope no one notices.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Class Hope No Notice One Talk
Reparations would mean the end of scarfing hot dogs on the Fourth of July while denying the facts of our heritage.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Denying End Fact Heritage Mean Reparation Scarfing Talk
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.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Country Feel Many People Person Police Skepticism Towards
When nonviolence begins halfway through the war with the aggressor calling time out, it exposes itself as a ruse.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Aggressor Calling Expose Halfway Itself Nonviolence Ruse Time War
Is the Jewish race thriftier than the Arab race?
TA-NEHISI COATES

Country Jewish People Peron Race Thriftier
I think, as a writer, I’m in my own head.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Head Own Thinking Writer
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.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Always Between Condition Difference First Government Head Many Neighbourhood Place Responsible Schmo Way
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.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Actually Always Embarrassment Folk Future Really Small Sound Symbolism
[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 COATES

Celebrity Country Crow Hawaii Know Man Most Personality President Remove Segregation Tendency Violent
Thirty-five years of racist housing policy. Until we reckon with our compounding moral debts, America will never be whole.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Compound Country Debt Fivem Eyar Moral Policy Racist Reckon Thirty Whole
Lot of folks like to mock dumb history, and pretend it’s just a few idiots. Isn’t. It’s the country.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Country Dumb Folk History Idiot Lot Mock Pretend
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.
TA-NEHISI COATES

Democratizer Fact Great History Image Reconciling Self Yelling
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 COATES

Bridge Contradiction Country Felt Optimism People Peron Sincere

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 think the sad fact is, there’s a long history in this country at looking at African-American as subhuman.

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