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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.

Uhh White People...

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Feb 4 2009, 12:00 PM ET Comment

Not trying to offend anybody, but someone in my house (Kenyatta) likes that awful show Rock of Love. Apparently they made reference to something called a "White Trash Picnic." Now I could all Clarence 52X on you and talk about how "Picnic" is derived from the phrase "Pick a Nic" which is derived from "Pick a Nig" which is itself derived from "Pick a Nigger," which is derived from the phrase "Pick a Nigger to Lynch," thus meaning that a "White Trash Picnic" must be code for Klan rally. But I don't think you're quite ready for that level of knowledge.

And so I humbly ask WTF that phrase means. I googled it and came with the most confusing pictures. It looked like a bunch of white people having a cookout--with a few black people no less. Am I missing something, here? Is this like that "Canadian" thing ya'll mofos like to pull? Will you lose "white people privileges" if you tell me? Will banks stop giving you money?

UPDATE: Apparently a few people below think I'm being sarcastic. In fact, I'm dead serious. Picnic clearly is a code-word to call for the lynching of black people. I've been crusading to keep brainwashed Negroes from using it, and unwittingly calling for their own extermination. As for snopes, we all know that that's part of the Secret Plot. And why should I trust the French. They lie. They all lie. I'm not being sarcastic at all. No one is ever sarcastic on this blog. We're totally earnest. That is all.


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