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 CoatesIn particular in how [Barack Obama] has directed what you could describe as patronizing remarks to African-American communities.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesAn 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.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesI am not asking you as a white person to see yourself as an enslaver. I'm asking you as an American to see all of the freedoms that you enjoy and see how they are rooted in things that the country you belong to condoned or actively participated in the past.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesThe greatest reward of this constant interrogation, confrontation with the brutality of my country, is that it has freed me from hosts and myths.
Ta-Nehisi Coates[Winning the White House was an achievement], but as an African-American, [Barack Obama], I think the symbolism is in how he conducted himself. 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