wtf... "How Ta-Nehisi Coates Gives Whiteness Power"

[Crude Abolitionist]

This article was a long version if that Morgan Freeman interview.

Where he says the way you end racism is to stop talking about it.

Honestly this article just seems like a feel good pep talk to white people after he crushed their collective fantasy on Colbert.

THE fukk

 

[King Kreole]

I'm not sure that I follow. Because some white people (most Americans probably dislike his conclusions) we are supposed to dislike him, regardless of the truth of his claims?

You are free to like or dislike Coates - I personally find him to be redundant and somewhat banal - but gauging the quality and demographics of the reception a work/artist receives can wield some very important insight into the broader social environment. My issue isn't with the veracity of his claims, it's with how they're being utilized, and by whom.

If he was a physicist liked by white people for his work are we supposed to dismiss his work and conclusions?

I'm not suggesting dismissing Coates simply because white people like him, I'm saying it's telling that a certain subset of white people hold him in such esteem. It stinks to me. Also, physics isn't as subjective a field as social critique or racial politics.

And if you don't like his work what don't you like about it?

In my opinion, Coates is a White Writer. He isn't talking to black people, he's acting as a safari guide of black pain to white liberal tourists. They pick up his book/article, read about how powerful they are (magnified by them superficially eschewing that power), and get off on it. "Heavy is the head that wears the crown." Crucially, they never have to remove themselves from the centre position of this Historical narrative. The vast majority of white people I know love Coates ("He's a Very Important Writer!"), yet they're never willing to make any meaningful acts to decentralize themselves, which is a necessary step in truly defeating White Supremacy. Also, I really dislike how conspicuously he apes Baldwin. Also, his politics suck.

 

[Althalucian]

You are free to like or dislike Coates - I personally find him to be redundant and somewhat banal - but gauging the quality and demographics of the reception a work/artist receives can wield some very important insight into the broader social environment. My issue isn't with the veracity of his claims, it's with how they're being utilized, and by whom.


I'm not suggesting dismissing Coates simply because white people like him, I'm saying it's telling that a certain subset of white people hold him in such esteem. It stinks to me. Also, physics isn't as subjective a field as social critique or racial politics.


In my opinion, Coates is a White Writer. He isn't talking to black people, he's acting as a safari guide of black pain to white liberal tourists. They pick up his book/article, read about how powerful they are (magnified by them superficially eschewing that power), and get off on it. "Heavy is the head that wears the crown." Crucially, they never have to remove themselves from the centre position of this Historical narrative. The vast majority of white people I know love Coates ("He's a Very Important Writer!"), yet they're never willing to make any meaningful acts to decentralize themselves, which is a necessary step in truly defeating White Supremacy. Also, I really dislike how conspicuously he apes Baldwin. Also, his politics suck.

I see now. Thanks for that perspective. It's funny - I'm black and plenty of other black people around me like him and a lot of white educated people don't. However, considering his popularity and awards these past few years, a lot of white people clearly do. Can't argue against that.

I'm sensitive to that kind of white worship so I typically don't fall for it. However, Coates cut his teeth on 15+ years of writing for white owned, white audience magazines and papers and found his voice doing so. That might account for the big white following.

 

[GnauzBookOfRhymes]

Great article.

Ta-Nahesi's prominence comes from his value as an masturbatory aid to white liberalism. They are his primary base of support and they love him because he feeds their hero complex, allowing them to masochistically self-flagellate. It's all quite unseemly.

Whenever I think of him, I think of this Adolph Reed quote:
"Yeah, well, a friend, whom I won’t out, observed to me a while ago that one of the things that really irks him (and he’s a professor) about Coates is the way that white liberals gush over him and my informant said that it reminds him of the way that upper middle class liberals fawn over the maid’s son who has gone to college and “made something of himself”.

Can't win for losing. One of the things that really irks me is the way some people make it so a black man/woman is isn't allowed to project their own thoughts/beliefs because every Tom, dikk and Harry decides that we should view/interpret their thoughts through the lens of how it's perceived by white people.

 

[VegasCAC]

Great article.

Ta-Nahesi's prominence comes from his value as an masturbatory aid to white liberalism. They are his primary base of support and they love him because he feeds their hero complex, allowing them to masochistically self-flagellate. It's all quite unseemly.

Whenever I think of him, I think of this Adolph Reed quote:
"Yeah, well, a friend, whom I won’t out, observed to me a while ago that one of the things that really irks him (and he’s a professor) about Coates is the way that white liberals gush over him and my informant said that it reminds him of the way that upper middle class liberals fawn over the maid’s son who has gone to college and “made something of himself”.

So are you still a Trump supporter?

 

[King Kreole]

So are you still a Trump supporter?

No.

 

[VegasCAC]

No.

So you do admit you were wrong about him.

 

[King Kreole]

So you do admit you were wrong about him.

My posts about Trump were made in the context of the election when he was a candidate. I critique power, and he is now power. He has been a far more inept and disgraceful President than I foresaw, and has assumed many of the postures he was campaigning against, but I still hold out hope for the broader underlying potential he has as the destructive/unmasking force I hoped he would be.

 

[Concerning VIolence]

I'm tired of these liberal new blacks. I met Coates, he's chill but these VSB types I despise them.

These motherfukkers getting op-eds in the NY Times.

 

[theworldismine13]

this article is BS, and ive talked shyt about coates before, the problem with coates is that he's a black liberal, he sees racism being addressed by white liberalism
but thats his only problem, his description of america is on point, the article doesnt seem to explain why coates description is wrong

 

[Berniewood Hogan]

He has been a far more inept and disgraceful President than I foresaw,

 

[EndDomination]

Great article.

Ta-Nahesi's prominence comes from his value as an masturbatory aid to white liberalism. They are his primary base of support and they love him because he feeds their hero complex, allowing them to masochistically self-flagellate. It's all quite unseemly.

Whenever I think of him, I think of this Adolph Reed quote:
"Yeah, well, a friend, whom I won’t out, observed to me a while ago that one of the things that really irks him (and he’s a professor) about Coates is the way that white liberals gush over him and my informant said that it reminds him of the way that upper middle class liberals fawn over the maid’s son who has gone to college and “made something of himself”.

What does that have to do w/ anything he’s saying? “Because white liberals like him, his indictments on modern racism should be ignored?”

 

[EndDomination]

My posts about Trump were made in the context of the election when he was a candidate. I critique power, and he is now power. He has been a far more inept and disgraceful President than I foresaw, and has assumed many of the postures he was campaigning against, but I still hold out hope for the broader underlying potential he has as the destructive/unmasking force I hoped he would be.

He wasn’t “power” before the election, he was sloppiness, disguised by marketing.

 

[Jhoon]

What does that have to do w/ anything he’s saying? “Because white liberals like him, his indictments on modern racism should be ignored?”

Their views are irrelevant. These white peoples that eschew diversity are ultimately full of it. Ask them when was the last time they have patronized a black business. When was the last time they went to a black area and put money into their pockets. We as a people feel better when we go to a white mall/Walmart/restaurant. Are white people reciprocating the money?

 

[King Kreole]

What does that have to do w/ anything he’s saying? “Because white liberals like him, his indictments on modern racism should be ignored?”

Again, it's more that his "indictments" are toothless and banal, evident by the comfort and ease with which white liberals are able to co-opt them. That the perpetrators are some of the foremost proponents of his oeuvre should give some pause. Coates is not an emancipatory writer, nothing he's saying is a prescription for black people to escape this asphyxiating system, he's just detailing the abuse, and the majority of his fans are white liberals masturbating to it. I'm not sure of what use that is.