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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.

Now they tell us

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Aug 1 2008, 4:27 PM ET Comment

The new McCain line--Bill Clinton was a racial unifier, tossed under the bus:

Schmidt sees a sort of political soul mate in Bill Clinton. "Say whatever you want about Bill Clinton," Schmidt said, "but it's deeply unfair to suggest his criticism of Obama was race-based. President Clinton was a force for unity in this country on this subject. Every American should be proud of his record as both a governor and president. But we knew it was coming in our direction because they did it against a President of the United State of their own party."

Right. The same guy who gave us the Sista Souljah moment--the term that we can't bury--was a "force for unity" on race. I actually don't think he was a force for disunity. I just don't think Clinton helped or hurt the cause much. For every advance he made for "racial unity," there's a black woman who he tossed over the bridge. But what do I know, I'm just a black guy in Harlem. Schmidt, meanwhile, has real credentials--he's a Republican trying to win a campaign. As we all know, nobody can speak with more authority on unifying the races than Republicans trying to win.



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