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 COATESI think, as a writer, I’m in my own head.
More Ta-Nehisi Coates Quotes
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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.
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Talk about class and hope no one notices.
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Never forget that we were enslaved in this country longer than we have been free.
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An America that looks away is ignoring not just the sins of the past but the sins of the present and the certain sins of the future.
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In particular in how [Barack Obama] has directed what you could describe as patronizing remarks to African-American communities.
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If George Washington crossing the Delaware matters, so must his ruthless pursuit of the runagate Oney Judge.
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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.
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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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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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You know, it felt like him reverting back to what was in his bones and that’s, you know, optimism and a deep belief in, you know, American institutions and the American people.
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Part of that is ordinary African-Americans, you come out of your house and you see the conditions in your neighborhood and you see, folks in your neighborhood doing certain things that, are irresponsible.
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I would flip this the other way and say over 90 percent of African-Americans voted against Donald Trump.
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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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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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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.
TA-NEHISI COATES