Ta-Nehisi Coates Master Thread

[gatoveintisiete]

Originally I was for this, but after hearing how complicated it is I think I'm gonna pass.

[Kat Kid]

I typed up a pretty big response to this thread but I don't have the time to really offer a full rebuttal to Coates.  He is a brilliant writer and I agree with the sin but not the remedy.

1) statute of limitations
2) lack of an effective institutional actor with moral standing and the political capital to arbitrate this

I could write a lot about each of these.  Coates is absolutely right when he says that we need to do more to get the history right and that will change minds, and I think that should be the focus.

That being said...

I am much too comfortable an American capitalist to believe the precedent set by reparations for  slavery would be anything but a poor one.


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[renocat]

I'm in favor of reparations with the caveat that anytime they use any public services, roads, or watch TV we assign a.value to their activities and deduct it from their reparations.  Even let them go into the hole.  My great grandpa was Irish and we suspect he was in the leprechaun ghettos in NY.  Why in the hell ain't he eligible for reparations for.the beat down society gave to the Irish.

[CNS]

Well, reno, you get your gravel road subsidized, so, your welcome.

[Emo EMAW]

The speed at which many of these people would be parted from their money would be worth the entertainment value. 

[MakeItRain]

I typed up a pretty big response to this thread but I don't have the time to really offer a full rebuttal to Coates.  He is a brilliant writer and I agree with the sin but not the remedy.

1) statute of limitations
2) lack of an effective institutional actor with moral standing and the political capital to arbitrate this

I could write a lot about each of these.  Coates is absolutely right when he says that we need to do more to get the history right and that will change minds, and I think that should be the focus.

That being said...

I am much too comfortable an American capitalist to believe the precedent set by reparations for  slavery would be anything but a poor one.


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How would reparations for slavery differ from reparations given by our government for other reasons as far as precedent setting goes? That horse left the barn generations ago.

[chuckjames]

The last paragraph kills.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/tanehisi-coates-reparations/427041/

[michigancat]

The last paragraph kills.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/tanehisi-coates-reparations/427041/

That's great, everyone should read

[renocat]

Since hillbillies have been taken care of with road gravel, I'm voting Indians real Americans as the next recipients.

[DQ12]

The last paragraph kills.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/tanehisi-coates-reparations/427041/

I thought the last two paragraphs were pretty naïve.  I think pragmatism (i.e. "how are we going to do this?") has a role at every level.

[Kat Kid]

I typed up a pretty big response to this thread but I don't have the time to really offer a full rebuttal to Coates.  He is a brilliant writer and I agree with the sin but not the remedy.

1) statute of limitations
2) lack of an effective institutional actor with moral standing and the political capital to arbitrate this

I could write a lot about each of these.  Coates is absolutely right when he says that we need to do more to get the history right and that will change minds, and I think that should be the focus.

That being said...

I am much too comfortable an American capitalist to believe the precedent set by reparations for  slavery would be anything but a poor one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How would reparations for slavery differ from reparations given by our government for other reasons as far as precedent setting goes? That horse left the barn generations ago.

The age of exploration and colonial era was extremely problematic.  It also literally drew the borders of much of the world. 

Slavery should not be understood as independent of, but rather a problem fundamentally driven by this era.  I don't know how you separate it and attempt to deal with its specific by asserting the primacy of one victim of history over another in a very real sense to remedy it. 

Most other examples of reparations have been much more limited in scope and much more timely.  The white supremacists who ran down the clock knew what they were doing, as the roots of history become further entwined and burrow deeper, it makes picking the fruits from each root impossible.


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[sys]

really good.


https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/10/the-first-white-president-ta-nehisi-coates/537909/

[catastrophe]

Yep. Good article.

[star seed 7]

Trump’s legacy will be exposing the patina of decency for what it is and revealing just how much a demagogue can get away with

So true

[renocat]

What a bunch of hateful hogwash.

I hope this guy realizes the voters from all minority groups pushed Trump to victory.
From an NBC article from Nov. 2016 ---
People] went into this election expecting Hillary Clinton to post Obama-esque margins against Donald Trump because he had made so many racial comments against different groups,” said Andra Gillespie, a fellow at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C., a black think tank. “Instead, Trump out-polled John McCain and Mitt Romney among blacks.”

[john "teach me how to" dougie]

Liberals just can't wrap their brains around the fact that Hillary was the more flawed candidate of the two. The majority of conservatives held their noses while voting for Trump. The only reason Trump won the primary was there were too many candidates dividing the voters.

If the democratic committee hadn't chosen Hillary for their candidate, Trump would not be president. The democratic primary is a rigged system.

[catastrophe]

Yea, no one really thinks Trump got elected solely because a black president preceded him. But the article makes a good case that it was at least a factor in how he managed to get any support in the primary in the first place.

[catastrophe]

Trump’s legacy will be exposing the patina of decency for what it is and revealing just how much a demagogue can get away with

So true

But to this point, just as important is the fact that so many conservatives found Trump palatable at all. It's pretty disturbing that if we get an overcrowded primary, you can have a unified block of racists essentially elect the next president because the rest of the party feels compelled to fall in line regardless.

That is definitely what bugged me the most about this election.

[star seed 7]

People like jdougie won't even admit that racists love him

[john "teach me how to" dougie]

People like jdougie won't even admit that racists love him

I have no doubt they do, but the article makes is sound as if he only won because a few racists voted for him. There is no doubt to me the only reason he won is because Hillary is a lying, self-serving POS.

[star seed 7]

Well trump def isn't a lying self serving pos, so you must be correct

[gatoveintisiete]

You have to go all the way back to Reagan to find a better 'pub candidate than Trump.

[renocat]

People like jdougie won't even admit that racists love him

I have no doubt they do, but the article makes is sound as if he only won because a few racists voted for him. There is no doubt to me the only reason he won is because Hillary is a lying, self-serving POS.

I agree with John's point.  I would have voted for a dead squirrel before voting for Hillary.  Many of my buds from the coffee think tank in Havens town voted for Trump cause he said he would appoint a conservative justice to the SOTUS, maybe another if ol Prunesberg croaks.  My point is Trump likely got more of a diverse group of people voting for him than Hillary.  Democrats identity politics is not working anymore.  I think this guy's article is racist and devisive.  Where is the next MKL.

[catastrophe]

People like jdougie won't even admit that racists love him

I have no doubt they do, but the article makes is sound as if he only won because a few racists voted for him. There is no doubt to me the only reason he won is because Hillary is a lying, self-serving POS.

Have you not been following politics very long? The other party's candidate is always a "lying, self-serving POS."

Hillary was a bad candidate, but to anyone who "held their nose" to vote for a candidate as terrible as Trump I say: you would have found a way to justify your terrible decision no matter who the Democrats put up.

[michigancat]

I enjoyed Coates's book quite a bit. good quick read.