8 thoughts on “Why We Still Can’t Have a Black President”
Excellent read!
I was disappointed that Ta-Nehisi didn’t mention Mitch McConnell when he mentioned the names of some of the racists who have attacked Obama. Mitch McConnell is the biggest racist of the bunch. I guess my being adept in understanding racist code talk has given me an advantage in comprehending McConnell’s racism beyond what an unskilled listener would perceive, but take my word for it…He’s rabid.
Hey code talkers…
” Looks like it’s gonna rain” 🙂
WOW!!!
What a powerful article. What a talented and thoughtful writer.
Those of you who read maha regularly, know that as a middle-aged white male, I have at times inartfully tried to make a few of the same points about the President, his race, and people’s expectations and fears about the way he handles things, both foreign and domestic. But compared to Coates, I’m like the proverbial monkey with a keyboard.
I wonder about a couple of things:
-How many of the same expectations and fears would a black President have, if he were a Republican? Someone like Colin Powell, who I thought, back in the early 90’s, might have a chance, if he wanted to take it.
-And, will the first female President face the same issues of misogyny, expectations and fears, and to what extent, as President Obama has with race? And how different they might be for a Democratic woman, as opposed to a Republican one (not that we’ll ever know how different – I’m just thinking out loud)?
Why doesn’t the NY Times permanently give Ta-Nehisi Coates a spot on the Op-ed page?
I’ve got a a great idea of some spots for him – let him replace that insipid, odious, and and sycophantic Conservative/Republican rationalizer and apologist, David Brooks.
Or, let him replace that insipid, odious, and sycophonatic Corporatist rationalizer and apologist, Thomas Friedman.
Or, how about Bobo’s ‘Mini-me-diocre,” and male sexual-reprressive version of MoDo, Douthat?
Maureen lately, has been on fire. I’m sure though, that she has a treasure trove of “Obambi” columns just waiting in the wings until after the Democratic Convention, or some “Inside the DC High School” gossip.
No, instead, we get our fill of those three nitwit’s, along with the occasional MoDo gem, while they ration out the meager intellectual diet of a great writer like Coates, in guest columns.
Well, it’s just another case of a talented black man not having the same opportunity as white male hacks. The problem is, he’s ‘twice as talented,’ but not yet half as successful.
Oh, and why isn’t Ta-Nehisi Coates on TV cable “news” show more often?
This morning, I turned to Cup O’ Schmoe’s show, and who do I see sitting in one of the guest chairs, but that vapid “vixen” of insipid right-wing talking points, SE Cupp. What is she going to tell the audience that they can’t get on FOX.
Why not have someone like Coates on, instead? You know – a fresh voice.
Never mind, a fresh voice is scary enough for the Village Elders. A black one, besides the great Bob Herbert and Eugene Robinson, might rock their little world, and force them to think.
Most of the hosts on Cable TV “news” shows are so used to being on auto-pilot, talking to the same old talking heads, they’ll crash their careers if they have to think. And if they ever once could think, which is doubtful for many of them.
A white-Âsupremacist site called Stormfront produced a photo of Martin with pants sagging, flipping the bird. Business Insider posted the photograph and took it down without apology when it was revealed to be a fake.
Those two sentences, for me, perfectly condense the state of discourse in the country today. The super-extreme-right leads, the center-right follows, their position holds even when proven to be based on lies.
Reading the Coates piece in its entirety reveals just how complicated American life really is these days. Not just events and ideas involving race, but also gender, class, culture, economics, spirituality, civility. Once in a great, great while the complexity is recognized, so that a vociferous dumbass like Todd Akin gets called out on his dumbassery. But the Akinses far outnumber the Coateses, so I suppose, on balance, we’re pretty screwed.
Coates is a fairly frequent guest on Up with Chris Hayes on MSNBC Saturday and Sunday mornings, along with a number of guests with widely different and frequently unrepresented backgrounds.
Cyranetta,
Thanks, I know.
The problem is, that he’s a guest on a weekend morning show on a channel mostly for people who are left of center.
The problem is the more “mainstream” shows.
Pretty much everyone in the DC Village, from what I’ve heard, tunes to Cup O’ Schmoe’s show, since he captures their zeitgeist.
Why, if, on top of the usual suspects of both parties, if you’re going to break-in someone new, go to someone like SE Cupp, who’s about as original the Gucci purses sold outside the MSNBC studios?
In some respects, I can’t complain, because they do sometime have people like Ezra Klein on Schmoe’s show, and a few others.
But it would be nice to have someone who is African-American on there there besides Eugene Robinson, who’s a frequent contributor, and Bob Herbert, who’s an occasional guest, and that ubiquitous Liberal concern troll, Harold Ford Jr.
And how about the Sunday gabfest’s?
Outside of “Jersey Shore,” is there a group of more over-exposed people on TV besides the usual suspects who appear on those Sunday shows? I swear, it’s like they keep these zombies in the deep freeze for a week or two, until it’s time to bring them back out. At least John McCain has a semi-regular job as a US Senator. Newt’s been in that deep freeze so long, I’m surprise he doesn’t look like Papa Smurf.
And we can look “forward” to a Joe Lieberman appearance on at lieast one of the 4 networks, once every other week, and maybe hit the 4-spot, every once in awhile.
It might be refreshing for someone besides MSNBC to have someone like Coates on every once in awhile. But, like I said, the networks are afraid that if you bring in someone that the hosts on the 4 network gabfests haven’t seen before, they’re liable to have aneurism’s, since their brains haven’t been used since the got the job, and got used to seeing the same old cadavers every other Sunday.
I think Peggy Noonan died about 3 years ago, and all of the booze she’s downed ever since her beloved Ronnie died, is what’s still talking when she’s on TV.
Perception ping [i-4 TTL] NO DATA REQ/CK VAL..return
Romney said: ” Nobody has had to ask me for my birth certificate.”
I heard: “Obama is a Kenyan Usurper”
——————————————————————————-
Report: All synapse positive/perception return valid..06683853
Swami,
And one of the Presidents surrogates ought to say, “And nobody has had to ask President Obama for his tax returns. Like his birth certificate, his tax returns are a matter of record.”
The President should stay above the fray.
Let Mitt wallow in the sh*t with a pig like Karl Rove.
Excellent read!
I was disappointed that Ta-Nehisi didn’t mention Mitch McConnell when he mentioned the names of some of the racists who have attacked Obama. Mitch McConnell is the biggest racist of the bunch. I guess my being adept in understanding racist code talk has given me an advantage in comprehending McConnell’s racism beyond what an unskilled listener would perceive, but take my word for it…He’s rabid.
Hey code talkers…
” Looks like it’s gonna rain” 🙂
WOW!!!
What a powerful article. What a talented and thoughtful writer.
Those of you who read maha regularly, know that as a middle-aged white male, I have at times inartfully tried to make a few of the same points about the President, his race, and people’s expectations and fears about the way he handles things, both foreign and domestic. But compared to Coates, I’m like the proverbial monkey with a keyboard.
I wonder about a couple of things:
-How many of the same expectations and fears would a black President have, if he were a Republican? Someone like Colin Powell, who I thought, back in the early 90’s, might have a chance, if he wanted to take it.
-And, will the first female President face the same issues of misogyny, expectations and fears, and to what extent, as President Obama has with race? And how different they might be for a Democratic woman, as opposed to a Republican one (not that we’ll ever know how different – I’m just thinking out loud)?
Why doesn’t the NY Times permanently give Ta-Nehisi Coates a spot on the Op-ed page?
I’ve got a a great idea of some spots for him – let him replace that insipid, odious, and and sycophantic Conservative/Republican rationalizer and apologist, David Brooks.
Or, let him replace that insipid, odious, and sycophonatic Corporatist rationalizer and apologist, Thomas Friedman.
Or, how about Bobo’s ‘Mini-me-diocre,” and male sexual-reprressive version of MoDo, Douthat?
Maureen lately, has been on fire. I’m sure though, that she has a treasure trove of “Obambi” columns just waiting in the wings until after the Democratic Convention, or some “Inside the DC High School” gossip.
No, instead, we get our fill of those three nitwit’s, along with the occasional MoDo gem, while they ration out the meager intellectual diet of a great writer like Coates, in guest columns.
Well, it’s just another case of a talented black man not having the same opportunity as white male hacks. The problem is, he’s ‘twice as talented,’ but not yet half as successful.
Oh, and why isn’t Ta-Nehisi Coates on TV cable “news” show more often?
This morning, I turned to Cup O’ Schmoe’s show, and who do I see sitting in one of the guest chairs, but that vapid “vixen” of insipid right-wing talking points, SE Cupp. What is she going to tell the audience that they can’t get on FOX.
Why not have someone like Coates on, instead? You know – a fresh voice.
Never mind, a fresh voice is scary enough for the Village Elders. A black one, besides the great Bob Herbert and Eugene Robinson, might rock their little world, and force them to think.
Most of the hosts on Cable TV “news” shows are so used to being on auto-pilot, talking to the same old talking heads, they’ll crash their careers if they have to think. And if they ever once could think, which is doubtful for many of them.
A white-Âsupremacist site called Stormfront produced a photo of Martin with pants sagging, flipping the bird. Business Insider posted the photograph and took it down without apology when it was revealed to be a fake.
Those two sentences, for me, perfectly condense the state of discourse in the country today. The super-extreme-right leads, the center-right follows, their position holds even when proven to be based on lies.
Reading the Coates piece in its entirety reveals just how complicated American life really is these days. Not just events and ideas involving race, but also gender, class, culture, economics, spirituality, civility. Once in a great, great while the complexity is recognized, so that a vociferous dumbass like Todd Akin gets called out on his dumbassery. But the Akinses far outnumber the Coateses, so I suppose, on balance, we’re pretty screwed.
Coates is a fairly frequent guest on Up with Chris Hayes on MSNBC Saturday and Sunday mornings, along with a number of guests with widely different and frequently unrepresented backgrounds.
Cyranetta,
Thanks, I know.
The problem is, that he’s a guest on a weekend morning show on a channel mostly for people who are left of center.
The problem is the more “mainstream” shows.
Pretty much everyone in the DC Village, from what I’ve heard, tunes to Cup O’ Schmoe’s show, since he captures their zeitgeist.
Why, if, on top of the usual suspects of both parties, if you’re going to break-in someone new, go to someone like SE Cupp, who’s about as original the Gucci purses sold outside the MSNBC studios?
In some respects, I can’t complain, because they do sometime have people like Ezra Klein on Schmoe’s show, and a few others.
But it would be nice to have someone who is African-American on there there besides Eugene Robinson, who’s a frequent contributor, and Bob Herbert, who’s an occasional guest, and that ubiquitous Liberal concern troll, Harold Ford Jr.
And how about the Sunday gabfest’s?
Outside of “Jersey Shore,” is there a group of more over-exposed people on TV besides the usual suspects who appear on those Sunday shows? I swear, it’s like they keep these zombies in the deep freeze for a week or two, until it’s time to bring them back out. At least John McCain has a semi-regular job as a US Senator. Newt’s been in that deep freeze so long, I’m surprise he doesn’t look like Papa Smurf.
And we can look “forward” to a Joe Lieberman appearance on at lieast one of the 4 networks, once every other week, and maybe hit the 4-spot, every once in awhile.
It might be refreshing for someone besides MSNBC to have someone like Coates on every once in awhile. But, like I said, the networks are afraid that if you bring in someone that the hosts on the 4 network gabfests haven’t seen before, they’re liable to have aneurism’s, since their brains haven’t been used since the got the job, and got used to seeing the same old cadavers every other Sunday.
I think Peggy Noonan died about 3 years ago, and all of the booze she’s downed ever since her beloved Ronnie died, is what’s still talking when she’s on TV.
Perception ping [i-4 TTL] NO DATA REQ/CK VAL..return
Romney said: ” Nobody has had to ask me for my birth certificate.”
I heard: “Obama is a Kenyan Usurper”
——————————————————————————-
Report: All synapse positive/perception return valid..06683853
Swami,
And one of the Presidents surrogates ought to say, “And nobody has had to ask President Obama for his tax returns. Like his birth certificate, his tax returns are a matter of record.”
The President should stay above the fray.
Let Mitt wallow in the sh*t with a pig like Karl Rove.