Skip Navigation
Ta-Nehisi Coates

Ta-Nehisi Coates - Ta-Nehisi Coates is a senior editor for The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics, and social issues for TheAtlantic.com and the magazine. He is the author of the memoir The Beautiful Struggle. More

Born in 1975, the product of two beautiful parents. Raised in West Baltimore—not quite The Wire, but sometimes ill all the same. Studied at the Mecca for some years in the mid-’90s. Emerged with a purpose, if not a degree. Slowly migrated up the East Coast with a baby and my beloved, until I reached the shores of Harlem. Wrote some stuff along the way.

It's always tragic to be black

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Aug 6 2008, 1:00 PM ET Comment

Even when you try to eat healthier. Damned if you reach for the fried chicken, damned if you reach for the baked whiting. I'm not sure what media wants to happen here. It's been barely two years since the Times ran a series lamenting the incredible diabetes rates in East Harlem. Now they run a story lamenting the decline of ham hocks and red velvet cake. This game is rigged--either you play the tragic Negro, or you get ignored. You choose.

There is of course the gentrification angle, but that doesn't really explain much--Harlem is still overwhelmingly black. The diet change deal started years ago, when soul food joints started cooking their greens with turkey wings, and baked chicken became the move. Personally, I miss Ahira's. 116th and Lenox cats know what I'm talking about,


Presented by

More at The Atlantic

The Many Questions Surrounding Walmart's 'Great for You' Initiative Does Walmart Want What's Great For You?
5 Lessons From the Rise of the BRICs 5 Lessons From the World's Great Rising Economies
'Plug In Better': A Manifesto How to Plug In Better
The 10 Most Expensive Cities in the World (and How They Got That Way) The World's Most Expensive Cities (and How They Got That Way)
10 Fictional TV Towns We'd Like to Visit The 10 Fictional TV Towns We'd Like to Visit Some Day

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register.
blog comments powered by Disqus
Special Report
The Civil War National Portrait Gallery The Civil War
President Obama reflects on what Lincoln means to him and to America, in an introduction to our special issue. Read more ›
View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

World Press Photo Contest 2012

Feb 15, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

Ta-Nehisi Coates
from the Magazine

Why Do So Few Blacks Study the Civil War?

Ta-Nehisi Coates is an Atlantic senior editor.

Fade to White

A filmmaker maps Austin’s shifting ethnic landscape.

The Legacy of Malcolm X

Why his vision lives on in Barack Obama