White guy getting educated on race

[tk2kewl]

I followed a link found in the article in this OP:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511264682

to an essay by Ta-Nehisi Coates:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/bernie-sanders-liberal-imagination/425022/

It's an essay that was posted a handful of times on DU when it was first published, but probably didn't get the attention it deserved - maybe because it was critical of Sanders as well as Clinton and the party establishment.

This part, in particular, struck me...

No. Fifteen years ago we watched a candidate [Nader] elevate class above all. And now we see that same candidate invoking class to deliver another blow to affirmative action. And that is only the latest instance of populism failing black people.

The left, above all, should know better than this. When Sanders dismisses reparations because they are “divisive” he puts himself in poor company. “Divisive” is how Joe Lieberman swatted away his interlocutors. “Divisive” is how the media dismissed the public option. “Divisive” is what Hillary Clinton is calling Sanders’s single-payer platform right now.

So “divisive” was Abraham Lincoln’s embrace of abolition that it got him shot in the head. So “divisive” was Lyndon Johnson’s embrace of civil rights that it fractured the Democratic Party. So “divisive” was Ulysses S. Grant’s defense of black civil rights and war upon the Klan, that American historians spent the better part of a century destroying his reputation. So “divisive” was Martin Luther King Jr. that his own government bugged him, harassed him, and demonized him until he was dead. And now, in our time, politicians tout their proximity to that same King, and dismiss the completion of his work—the full pursuit of equality—as “divisive.” The point is not that reparations is not divisive. The point is that anti-racism is always divisive. A left radicalism that makes Clintonism its standard for anti-racism—fully knowing it could never do such a thing in the realm of labor, for instance—has embraced evasion.

This, too, leaves us in poor company. “Hillary Clinton is against reparations, too” does not differ from, “What about black-on-black crime?” That Clinton doesn’t support reparations is an actual problem, much like high murder rates in black communities are actual problems. But neither of these are actual answers to the questions being asked. It is not wrong to ask about high murder rates in black communities. But when the question is furnished as an answer for police violence, it is evasion. It is not wrong to ask why mainstream Democrats don’t support reparations. But when the question is asked to defend a radical Democrat’s lack of support, it is avoidance.

Maybe now that Ta-Nehisi Coates "is on our side" this article deserves a second look by Bernie supporters in order to truly appreciate Ta-Nehisi Coates' support, and not let it just be a check in an AA column like so many elected official, newspaper, union leadership or other endorsements.

To the people of color on these boards, regardless of your preferred candidate or even preferred strategy for conveying your message, please carry on, and know I try my best to do the right thing and deeply wish to join you in common cause.

[WillyT]

1. HUGE K & R !!! - THANK YOU !!!

[tk2kewl]

2. thanks for the kick Willy

[WillyT]

4. Anytime tk2kewl... Anytime !!!

[AtomicKitten]

3. On Democracy Now, Mr. Coates emphasized that he doesn't endorse Sanders but is going to vote for him

However, your point is well taken. Mr. Coates essay pleads a case against Sanders that could easily be made against Clinton, but he elects to not connect those dots. This is not written in a vacuum but in the midst of a heated (and heating up) primary election. In his otherwise well-written essay, he is putting an unfair burden on Sanders that he does not apply to Clinton even though their position on reparations is identical. In my view, that intentional analytical bias harms his argument.

[tk2kewl]

6. to me i see it a little different and feel like it gives me some insight

into some of the activity on this board that i may sometimes find unsettling

Coats seems to take as a given that Clinton/establishment will not support reparations or meaningful change - but challenges those of us - not just Bernie - or more like - by using Bernie as a proxy for our "high ideals" - to push the envelope and demand what is right

[AtomicKitten]

9. Arguments from the Supreme Court that institutionalized racism has been summarily cured by virtue

... of the election of Obama makes these discussions even more urgent. We have actually stepped backwards on civil rights with the gutting of the Voting Rights Act, privatization of prisons, grotesquely unfair sentencing, and the militarization of police. Mr. Coates understands the Clintons were at the forefront of much of these oppressive policies, and I find that tacit surrender weakens his argument regarding Bernie. Discussion of reparations in light of the status quo seems frivolous; it will take a major realignment politically to solve these injustices. The money point is that's what Bernie's campaign is all about.

[tk2kewl]

11. all good points

but again i think he is pushing "us" through Bernie

[AtomicKitten]

13. I can see that and thank you for calling it to our attention.

[tk2kewl]

14. i know you get it

but i'm just starting to

[tk2kewl]

7. oh and... i did not actually say Coates endorsed Bernie...

but that he supports him... maybe just saying he's voting for him is even less? but i do hope people can take another look at where he is coming from

[AtomicKitten]

10. He was careful to emphasize the difference, and I thought that point relevant for the record.

[tk2kewl]

12. all good

[Waiting For Everyman]

5. I heard that reparations were going to come from this guy:

who is currently managing, and raking in money from, a huge private prison system...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/12511265288

I'm sure he'll be happy to discuss cutting everyone a nice check, and I'd recommend asking him about it on camera.

[tk2kewl]

8. i think you are missing the point

but yeah, that's effed up