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To prevent verifying stereotypes, we pledge to never eat a slice a watermelon in front of white people.

Ta-Nehisi Coates

That’s not an accident that Donald Trump didn’t begin with, say, trade or jobs or anything, that he actually began by otherizing the first African-American president of the United States.
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Accident Actually Anything Begin Country First Job People Peron President Trade
Lot of folks like to mock dumb history, and pretend it’s just a few idiots. Isn’t. It’s the country.
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Country Dumb Folk History Idiot Lot Mock Pretend
[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
Humans also tend to find community to be pleasurable, and within the boundaries of community relationships, words.
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Boundary Community Human Ironic Pleasurable Relationship Self Word
The unearned skepticism of one group of humans joined to the unearned sympathy for another.
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Another Group Human Join One Skepticism Sympathy Unlearn
What I am telling you is that you do not need to know to love, and it is right that you feel it all in any moment. And it is right that you see it through–that you are amazed, then curious, then belligerent, then heartbroken, then numb. You have the right to all of it.
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Feel Heartbroken Know Moment Need Right Tell
The essence of American racism is disrespect.
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Country Disrespect Essence Racism
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
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 COATES

Always Anger Corner Dute Early Engender Level Morning Ousdidem Drink Outside Shame Thing
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
Addressing the moral failings of black people while ignoring the centuries-old failings of their governments amounts to a bait and switch.
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Addressing Amount Bait Black Century Fail Failing Government Ignore Moral People Switch
I would flip this the other way and say over 90 percent of African-Americans voted against Donald Trump.
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Against Ay Country Ninty Other Over Percent Person President Way
[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.
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Ability Frankly Gave Optimism People Thing Trust White
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
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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Always Between Condition Difference First Government Head Many Neighbourhood Place Responsible Schmo Way
Two hundred fifty years of slavery. Ninety years of Jim Crow. Sixty years of separate but equal.
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Country Equal Humdres Separate Slavery Two Year

To prevent verifying stereotypes, we pledge to never eat a slice a watermelon in front of white people.

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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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Popular Authors

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