Ta-Nehisi Coates is one of my favourite writers. This piece, “Fear of a Black President” was, quite simply, brilliant. Now you can read how the piece was written. It’s a fantastic opportunity for readers.
I knew, for a reason I couldn’t even name that I really wanted to talk to Shirley Sherrod. And I knew because what occurred to me very, very early was that everything that was wrong was symbolized in what happened to her. I knew that there was some great symbolism in what had happened and her being so totally screwed over. But I didn’t know how to connect. I couldn’t – the connections weren’t there. It was just a theory in my mind.
I don’t know if scientists ever work strictly from intuition – something is there and part of it is trying to get the math and prove that it is there. That’s sort of how it was: You know, I think this is connected, I’m not exactly sure how. And I went there, and then there it was.
Also, there is some wonderful stuff towards the end of this interview about coping with the long, long road to change.
I was on the radio. Somebody was saying yesterday on the radio, “Well, you know, Jackie Robinson did this.” And I told him, “You got to remember Jackie Robinson died young. Don’t ever forget that, every time you say that. Remember that.” You know, it wasn’t just a matter of being better. This actually costs. It costs. Any black person who has ever worked in any sort of corporate job can tell you about coming home and needing to have an extra drink, about the anger they feel…
.. I didn’t really get to stress this enough in the piece but progress is never a straight line…
..I like that tension and I like, you know, sort of living there. You don’t have to believe that we would be better off if Barack Obama had never been elected to outline the sacrifices in the situation; historians do that all the time. And I think you can do it without the kind of, “on the other hand-ism” that journalists often sort of resort to. I don’t think anybody would have thought if Hillary Clinton won, that that would be the end of sexism. I don’t think there would be any sort of discussion like that. But the election of Barack Obama was just so unexpected; it became weighted with all these other things.
And the other thing is – this is a great picture, I guess (a few) days ago. Barack Obama goes into this pizzeria and the guy bear-hugs him and picks him up. And the guy – I guess he is a Republican. He voted for Obama and he is going to vote for him again this year. And, like, you have to balance that. You know, this white guy is doing that and clearly does not care. You know what I mean? Like five different things that seem to be contradictory can be true at the same time.
blue milk 
I liked the article, and I truly admire Ta-Nehisi Coates. However, I have to sigh and sigh and sigh all over again when I see how women are completely erased from the points he made. He did have the “instinct” that he needed to talk to Ms. Sherrod, but I think he still missed a connection, there. He talked about how Ms. Sherrod didn’t get a “beer summit,” but didn’t make a connection that maybe, just possibly, that had something to do with her non-dudeliness.
Women of color: ignored by white feminism, ignored by black men fighting racism. It’s tiresome. His article was so male-centric. Sigh, and sigh, and sigh again.
I also sigh, since plenty of people already claim that sexism no longer exists. And I didn’t think Obama’s election was unexpected in any way. He spoke well, looks presidential, and is really just like every other politician in a capitalist society when it comes right down to it.
Have you read the article – Fear of a Black President? It tackles some of these criticisms.
I did read the article. I really thought the insight into “well he WAS a ‘good’ black man and then he went and said that thing about Trayvon Martin'” was particularly stunning. I hadn’t made the connection until Coates wrote about it. Brilliant.
Any time I mention something about Obama being criticized for really stupid stuff (that doesen’t even seem ‘racial’ on the surface), my husband says, “Wow. This ‘black man as president’ is still such a fuel for people’s dislike of Obama.” Sometimes I start to say, “no, that’s not what this was about … ” and then I stop, because in the end, OF COURSE it is.
Great article. I drew a lot of parallels with Gillard’s position as the first female Prime Minister:
” This need to talk in dulcet tones, to never be angry regardless of the offense…”
I work in the field of preventing violence against women, working for gender equality. There is a lot of great work happening at the federal level but a defeaning silence from the PM, I can hardly blame her.