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African American
In reply to the discussion: Ta-Nehisi Coates, Bernie Sanders, and Reparations [View all]sahel
(87 posts)193. Exactly
I never got the impression that his intent was to offer up price tag or "concrete restitution", which seems to be Drum's point of contention; rather, he was merely making the case for such an action.
Exactly. He listed all the reasons for why you might support it, without actually saying that he supported it.
I wouldn't have a problem with that ...
Because it will never become reality. Just like the affluent white liberals who claim that they are prepared to offer their houses up to accommodate Syrian refugees (because there isnt the faintest prospect that the refugees will be allowed here) but get their noses out of joint because the sushi restaurant across the road from their condo has started serving alcohol.
Please explain, further ... as, I have no idea what's in the mind of affluent white (liberals).
Well, of course you do. You probably spend much of your working life surrounded by white liberals.
There are mundane reasons. If there is to be a Black Leadership Class, the whites would prefer that it be beholden to them rather than to Black people. Chiefly this is done by ensuring that any prospective Black movement that emerges is brought within the orbit of the Democratic Party (its happening right now to BLM), and that Black writers are disseminated by white publishers to largely white audiences (I am pretty sure that accounts for most of them).
The liberal whites dont require that people like Coates temper their criticisms of racism or white people. Thats the genius of it. What they do require is that said writers wholeheartedly sign up to the principles of white western post-enlightenment liberalism. No radical politics. No nationalism. No socialism or anarchism or Islamic theocracy or traditional African societal advocacy. No genuine mass movements or agitation or violence. No antisemitism or homophobia. Basically please be a black version of a white liberal. When you think about it that way the totality of the coup becomes clear. Pretty much the whole black establishment has been brought into line. The very people who chant "white privilege" are themselves the strongest reinforcers of the cultural normativity of white liberal politics. It is complete and profound cultural hegemony by the same people who claim to be combating it. Even the conservatives are largely content to allow the white liberals to manage policy as it affects Black people. Why wouldnt they? The white liberals have been doing it successfully, more or less, for decades.
This is why the white liberal is the most profound racist, far more than the conservative. At least the conservative still fears the Black man. The liberal is so convinced of his ability to manage minorities that he no longer does.
Its an act of atonement. Of catharsis. For you as well, right? Makes us feel better about ourselves. Appeals to our sense of sportsmanship, that we allow ourselves to be very mildly flagellated on an occasional basis. It actually has very little to do with black people when you think about it, and more with us wanting to differentiate ourselves from those nasty slobby working class whites. You certainly wouldnt see any of those reading an essay by Coates. It takes refinement and breeding to indulge that sort of criticism of oneself.
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Because in some quarters, anything unflattering towards a certian candidate ...
1StrongBlackMan
Jan 2016
#120
Because it holds him to his own standards. Just like when a Republican politician says they are
stevenleser
Jan 2016
#197
Thanks for your service in working on grass roots campaigns and finance reform.
jonestonesusa
Jan 2016
#185
What you're saying though sounds a lot like "some revolutionary ideas (like the ones the white
MADem
Jan 2016
#138
What's "impractical and very divisive" (Sanders' words) is Sanders' selective outrage.
MADem
Jan 2016
#141
I don't agree that free college and universal health care are "white-friendly"
jonestonesusa
Jan 2016
#182
If I'm being reductive, it's because I see that you aren't understanding TNC's point.
MADem
Jan 2016
#189
ZING. You are the opposite of wildeyed! You focused like a laser beam on the nub, the essence, of
MADem
Jan 2016
#137
I do believe that this is your first post here and you come in here solely to launch personal
Number23
Jan 2016
#3
You may find it suspicious but it's pretty clear that most people who have actually listened to
Number23
Jan 2016
#73
And you guys continue to track into this forum calling this a hit piece and an "attack"
Number23
Jan 2016
#146
tishaLA, that is a great thread you started. Your responses to the derp posts are terrific.
emulatorloo
Jan 2016
#50
what i noticed about that thread is for days now we have had thread after thread from certain ones
JI7
Jan 2016
#12
How many times have even the mildest suggestions that Sanders may not be able to accomplish all that
Empowerer
Jan 2016
#167
A very easy answer - because they think nonetheless he will do the most for them.
highprincipleswork
Jan 2016
#28
Okay ... That would be one answer ...an answer without foundation; but, an answer none the less ...
1StrongBlackMan
Jan 2016
#34
Hillary supporters usually don't try to make her out to be something so Great that only she will do
JI7
Jan 2016
#104
I don't wish to offend, but what Civil Rights action did President Obama get done in the first 90?
highprincipleswork
Jan 2016
#61
You are right. Well familiar with it, but forgot it was signed so fast.
highprincipleswork
Jan 2016
#90
i believe Sanders cares about POC also and i support Sanders, but i also don't make him out to be
JI7
Jan 2016
#103
You are asking a politician to admit that the economic success of the US is based on
guillaumeb
Jan 2016
#53
I think we, in this group, know the answer to that very poignant observation. This is what puzzles..
Tarheel_Dem
Jan 2016
#79
"Outsider"; "Insider". It all equals "White". They're the ones who feel that anything given to.....
Tarheel_Dem
Jan 2016
#93
It wouldn't make sense for him to go after Hillary. She's being a realist on policy.
stevenleser
Jan 2016
#198
You're laughing because you don't understand it. If you got it, you wouldn't be laughing. nt
stevenleser
Jan 2016
#206
Crickets from those in this thread, including the OP, to your questions.
Liberal_Stalwart71
Jan 2016
#145
That's,probably, because we are at the point of the learning curve, where ...
1StrongBlackMan
Jan 2016
#151
Well, some at least have arrived there ... others ... well, not so much. eom
1StrongBlackMan
Jan 2016
#155
I expected for most of us in this forum to fully understand what Coates was saying
Number23
Jan 2016
#20
I have never even looked at it that way. I have traditionally not been in favor of reparations
Number23
Jan 2016
#71
If we're going to go after billionaires, why not get that money for the people who made them rich?
Starry Messenger
Jan 2016
#99
And other countries have paid reparations for people who have been victimized by the State too
Number23
Jan 2016
#100
One may be harder than the other, but both are unattainable with today's Congress.
SunSeeker
Jan 2016
#59
Funny that you would say Bernie would never sign off on bad Republican legislation.
SunSeeker
Jan 2016
#91
This piece is not "about" Sanders; he's just an example. It's "about" reparations
Recursion
Jan 2016
#19
OK, but Coates is "the guy who wrote a famous recent piece advocating reparations"
Recursion
Jan 2016
#30
Side point: Coates's use of tense, and control of time in his narrative, is in my mind unmatched
Recursion
Jan 2016
#110
If that's what you took out of Coates' piece then it explains everything about this OP
Number23
Jan 2016
#75
I'm not repeating anything. The response came up completely on its own after reading your post
Number23
Jan 2016
#149
I think Coates is in many ways a throwback to impressionism, which is why we need him
Recursion
Jan 2016
#114
See, now ... you two are going to force my to expand my knowledge base ...
1StrongBlackMan
Jan 2016
#122
FDR couldn't bring himself to desegregate the Armed Forces during a war that was all about
MADem
Jan 2016
#170
I believe that refers to the program used to make lend/no lend decisions ...
1StrongBlackMan
Jan 2016
#44
Ok, so the idea is that buying up the algorithm would prevent the practice going forward?
aikoaiko
Jan 2016
#45
Well, i was mostly being snarky about how it's suddenly hard to decide who's "black"
Recursion
Jan 2016
#55
it's not about slavery , it's about discrimination of blacks from housing assistance and many
JI7
Jan 2016
#102
Go on and count up how many times the Congress has introduced a bill to repeal the ACA
MADem
Jan 2016
#142