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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.

Billy Dee Williams says, "White People, You May Laugh--But Not That Hard."

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Feb 27 2009, 1:30 PM ET Comment

From commenter Jhodi:

But I'm still uneasy about one basic point. Can white people giggle at Steele or should we be biting our tongues?
Heh--If you have to ask, than probably not. Any twangs of guilt likely come from laughing at something else, besides the joke.

All kidding and blog titles aside, you can laugh as much as the rest of us. I don't actually believe it's that hard to detect racism. Even if it is, I'm not sure how much I care. I'm quite sure some of the best jokes in the Steele thread, come from people who don't look like me. Besides, who could ever forget this number. Blacks and Jews FTW.



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