That article almost brings out the most deeply held prejudices I have, ironically enough, learned in Atlanta

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

Not sure what you mean? About gay Jamaicans?

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Coates shines a light on a number of issues in this article. The way he connects history with Contemporary America is impressive also.

When he talks about evasiveness with respect to narrative he is correct. White Working class angst has been used to soften the blow for Trump's racist views. Trump tapped into xenophobic fears before he was ever a candidate for President. It was the one factor which distinguished him from all other candidates.

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Are you suggesting "White Working class angst" is xenophobic?

No in this instance. I'm speaking about Trump and specifically his initial forays into politics. Birtherism and the wall were the two issues that he touched upon first. These two issues tapped into the xenophobic fears which still undercut American society. Birtherism and the fraudulent claims made by him with respect to it should have been an immediate disqualifier. It wasn't. There was a certain segment of this country that was willing to believe it. That group not so coincidentally voted for Trump.

When you couple this with other more traditional slogans used by Trump it's easy to draw the conclusion that a sizable amount of his support is derived from xenophobia.

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The writer seems to lump whites altogether in one basket. Just look at the varied opinions of the whites who post here, and you see a very wide range of views. We're either going to find a way to all live together or let the folks on each extreme divide us up and tear the country apart.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I just clicked on Coates' author profile on The Atlantic's website, and did a CTRL+F for "white". It came up with 13 instances. 4 of which were either the Q part of a mailbag type post, and the others were referencing the White House, so I discarded them. That leaves 9 instances of the word "white" used in either the headline or slugline of the last 20 stories/posts written by him.

Half of his recent catalog of work involves discussing white people or "whiteness". How do you define "hysterical"?

When he states that Trump benefitted from whiteness he is speaking to things that would have disqualified him if he were anything but white. Its not like he ran a great campaign. He didn't yet he was salvaged by factors that others wouldn't have been saved by. He won and that places a positive spin on much of what he did.

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No it's not. Either the President has the authority to form immigration policy—even such policy as delineates on otherwise "protected" lines—or he/she does not. Either rational basis review is the standard for judicial review of these policies, or it is not. Obama deserved every bit of scorn that Trump got for doing the exact same thing (unilaterally banning a large contingent of Muslim people from a Muslim-majority nation from entering the country, based in large part on the fact that they are Muslim), but got exactly none of it, not in editorials, not in the now-accepted way journalists editorialize in their reporting (I refer you to the AP's description of downtown DC for Trump's inauguration and Obama's second 4 years prior).

What?

Look, you can #NeverTrump all you want blaming whiteness or whatever for him winning. Whatever makes you feel better, I mean its been a year and you're still in a campaign mindset but fine. You've found a way to live with it.

But to deny that Trump's campaign did not pull one of the absolute all-timers is like disagreeing that the sun exists. It will go down as the democratic (as in democracy) equivalent of Hannibal Barca crossing the Alps. He did what absolutely nobody in the Democratic (as in party) or Republican establishment or news media thought was remotely possible. Throughout American history I dont think you can look back at an equivalent and I can say with almost certainty that it will never be repeated (or at least with the same shock).

Whiteness....it's Americanist. White is not some homogenous pool of people. Whites are largely melded and integrated into the broader culture, and we have little connection to where our ancestors came from.

Trump got away with a ton of crap that most white candidates would not have gotten away with. He tapped into a weird mix of people as evidenced by him winning MI, WI, and PA. I didn't vote for him, and neither did any of my Republican friends. His actions turned us all off, and we recognized he is not a Republican.

He just appealed to people who didn't like Hillary. He was plain spoken, and supporters didn't care that he lied and used bad language or had an ugly history.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I think you're conflating white people and the concept of "whiteness".

In Coates' most famous article, "The Case For Reparations", he clearly states a grievance and offers a remedy. In this piece he's just raging at his perception of America. It's a dark vision that I don't believe is shared by someone like Nas, just for example.

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His mind is not for rent to any God or government.

Things are looking dim for race relations. I get sad thinking about it.

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Mike we're about the same age and I don't think they've ever looked good in our lifetime .

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

I have felt optimism in my lifetime.

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That white supremacists are as out, proud, and cool with violence as they are now is certainly not promising, I know that much.

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Just read the article. Boy....I dunno. I can't say this was one of Coates' best pieces.

I know some of us really connect with him, but man, sometimes I read his work and think, he's tricky.

In more relaxed moments I actually feel better. We've known it is worse than many have wanted to acknowledge, now at least it's in the open to be talked about with the better among us

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

If your drop date for Good Ones, Chronicled conflicts with Terry's release, I'm afraid Mr. Boers will win out.

Had a conversation with someone a couple nights ago about this...


My take: it's insane to give any kind of platform or media coverage to 18k white hillbillies from 50 states combined... They are obsolete and irreverent , why pay them any mind and help recruitment?

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Does not matter in Chicago at least. Than and the rest of the politicians can now officially care less about you all now.

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20170914/near-west-side/census-white-black-hispanic-majority-minority-race-ethnicity-population-change-2016-2017-decline


CHICAGO — Hispanics are officially the second-largest ethnic or racial group in Chicago, based on Census data released Thursday.

Hispanics formed 29.7 percent of Chicago's population in 2016, based on Census estimates. The population climbed 17,751 over the previous year to 803,476.

Meanwhile the black population dropped by more than 40,000 in one year. There are now 793,852 black Chicagoans, about 29.3 percent of the population.

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

Coates was correct when he referenced safe spaces during racial discussions involving Trump. For instance it is much easier/safer to think of his victory as more of an Anti Hillary vote as opposed to a Pro Trump vote. It is easier to think of the birther movement as something promoted by Hillary Clinton and not him also. The vote for Trump had more to do with working class angst as opposed to racial backlash. This narrative has been consistently pushed even though post election polling showed that Hillary actually received a greater share of the vote from those making less than $50,000.

African Americans have historically been unemployed at a rate that is at least twice that of whites but when they have attempted to exercise their "angst" they have been instructed to stop complaining. When African Americans are unemployed they are stereotyped as lazy, uneducated, and criminally inclined. When whites are unemployed it's due to policies which restrict their ability to work. When people discuss the effects of NAFTA do you ever hear of it in the context of its effects upon "Urban America"?

Ironically the same group of Republicans that have historically touted the gloriousness of the free market now have no problem touting interventionist policies aimed at bringing back jobs for whites to work. When manufacturing in this country was on the wane blacks were instructed to make the adjustment i.e. get educated. Only when it disproportionately effected whites was it considered to be a problem worth solving.

How often did we hear the phrase "Obama isn't just President of black America he is the President of all of America"? How often have we heard that phrase in connection to Trump? even if it were uttered would anyone believe it?

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Of course. NAFTA has had an effect on the auto industry.

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It is a disaster for all of America. Do try and single any one section out is insane. The real crime is the effect of illegal immigration on black America and the stealing of jobs from that section of society. Add in the total sell out of the Dems/Left of Black America in favor of the illegals.

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

Keep hearing that and it doesn't pass the sniff test. Can you identify one policy proposed by Republicans which was specifically designed to benefit blacks? I'm talking last 35 years. This may take awhile.

You do realize that it was Reagan that originally provided amnesty for illegal aliens?

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Yes with a promise it would never happen again.

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

ok so that excuses it I guess. Which policies have Republicans implemented which were designed to help blacks?

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Don't know or really care. All I know is the party you all hitched your collective wagon to is selling you out wholesale. Care to deny?

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

Weird how I can agree in parts with both ltg and chas. Shows how complex this stuff is.

But you cared enough to comment about it though. You can't support it unsurprisingly and now you're ambivalent all of a sudden. The Democrats aren't without their faults but I can point to a number of instances in which they have sought to help blacks. The reason that you can't find any instances in the case of Republicans is because none exist.

Blacks are supposed to all of a sudden vote for the party of the group that seeks to roll back affirmative action and suppress their vote. Sure that's really smart. I wonder why they haven't thought of that yet.

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