Ta-Nehisi Coates
National Correspondent for The Atlantic
By Elaine Magliaro
On Wednesday night, Ta-Nehisi Coates, national correspondent at The Atlantic, and former RNC chair Michael Steele appeared on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes. Both guests shared their reactions to the decision of the Staten Island grand jury not to indict NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner.
During the discussion, Coates told Hayes, “We have this long history of racism in this country, and as it happens the criminal justice system has been perhaps the most prominent instrument for administering racism…But the racism doesn’t actually come from the criminal justice system. It doesn’t come from the police. The police are pretty much doing what the society that they originate from want them to do.”
Coates also responded to Hayes’s question about how he avoids falling into “fatalism or infinite rage”:
I don’t know that you avoid infinite rage. I walk around with it. You know, [James] Baldwin talked about this—‘to be black in America is to walk around all a fire, in rage constantly’—so I don’t know if you can avoid that. In terms of avoiding fatalism, listen: I’m the descendent of enslaved black people in this country. You could’ve been born in 1820, if you were black and looked back to your ancestors and saw nothing but slaves all the way back to 1619. Look forward another 50 or 60 years and saw nothing but slaves.
There was no reason at that point in time to believe that emancipation was 40 or 50 years off. And yet folks resisted and folks fought on. So fatalism isn’t really an option. Even if you think you’re not going to necessarily win the fight today in your lifetime, in your child’s lifetime, you still have to fight. It’s kind of selfish to say that you’re only going to fight for a victory that you will live to see.
As an African-American, we stand on the shoulders of people who fought despite not seeing victories in their lifetime or even in their children’s lifetime or even in their grandchildren’s lifetime. So fatalism isn’t really an option. Even if you think you won’t necessarily win the fight today, in your lifetime, in your child’s lifetime, you still have to fight. It’s kind of selfish to say you will only fight for a victory that you will live to see. As an African-American, we stand on the shoulders of people who fought despite not seeing victories in their lifetime, or even their children’s lifetimes, or even in their grandchildren’s lifetimes. So, fatalism is not an option.
Ta-Nehisi Coates: A Racial Turning Point? | msnbc
SOURCES
Ta-Nehisi Coates Says Fatalism Is Not An Option In Battle Against Racism (Huffington Post)
Ta-Nehisi Coates: “Fatalism Is Not an Option” (Vanity Fair)
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Flowers For Socrates 
” ByCaitlin MacNealPublishedDecember 7, 2014, 10:14 AM EST 1030 views
Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh on Sunday said that “grievance” over the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner has been exaggerated.
He lamented that the protests over the grand juries’ decisions not to indict police officers in either case are just making things worse.
“I think that there is a grievance politics in this country, that’s tearing the country apart,” Limbaugh said on “Fox News Sunday.” “It is literally ripping our fabric apart.”
Limbaugh said the jury made the right call in Ferguson, and added that protests would have occurred no matter what. He said that President Obama needs to step in to promote peace.
“The President of the United States, one thing about him — he’s a great orator. You put the right words on the teleprompter and this man can deliver soaring, inspiring rhetoric,” Limbaugh said. “I think it’s called for in this situation.”
The radio host then launched into a rant about how unwarranted he feels the protests are.
“This is not good for the country, what’s happening here, because it isn’t, I don’t think, full-fledged legitimate. It’s not based on real-world grievance. It’s grievance that’s being amplified and made up,” he said. “And the president, if you ask me, could do a lot to stop this by telling people to respect the criminal justice system.”
Though he asked Obama to step in to promote peace, Limbaugh also said that racism has gotten worse during Obama’s presidency.
“And one of the reasons why: no criticism, legitimate criticism, of the president is permitted because he’s African-American, and it’s all chalked up to racism,” he said.
Limbaugh also claimed that police did not actually put Garner in a chokehold, and that none of it would have happened if there wasn’t such a high tax on cigarettes.
“I think the real outrage here is that an American died while the state is enforcing tax collection on cigarettes. This is just absurd,” he said, adding that the “left” wanted a powerful government.
“If you want a powerful state, here’s your police force,” he said.”
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Limbaugh also claimed that police did not actually put Garner in a chokehold, and that none of it would have happened if there wasn’t such a high tax on cigarettes.” ????????
Rand Paul plagiarists I see,Rush.
Elaine,
An excellent piece and Mr. Coates has long been known for his cogency and intelligence. Eniobob’s quoting of Limbaugh thus was particularly apt, for this racist propagandist has long inflamed the faux angst of White racists, that people of color have ALL of the advantages in “politically correct” America and that all the grievances coming from them are false. You know it almost makes one wish for a return to the “olden days” when bigots were up front about their bigotry, proudly proclaiming it. At least one could see clearly who the enemies were, without the media bias that proclaims the civility of giving equal weight to all sides of an argument.
Excellent share.
Could your next visit to a yard or garage sale be your last ? I don’t think there are taxes paid there,I could be wrong, reason I ask :
” Right-Wing Media Parrot Rand Paul’s Absurd Assertion That Cigarette Taxes Are To Blame For Eric Garner’s Death
Research December 5, 2014 12:08 AM EST ››› ALEXANDREA BOGUHN ”
http://mediamatters.org/research/2014/12/05/right-wing-media-parrot-rand-pauls-absurd-asser/201775
The far right has made sure racism has gotten worse in the last 6 years….
Just read this and wanted to share it: To accuse a black person of being obsessed with racism in America is the same as accusing a drowning person of being obsessed with swimming.
School is in,Hannity is the unsuspecting pupil.
http://mediamatters.org/video/2014/12/08/hannity-to-tavis-smiley-about-the-role-of-race/201804
Oro Lee;
Profound – apropos – analogy!