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.

Abortion Doctor, And O'Reilly Target, Assassinated

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
May 31 2009, 1:27 PM ET Comment

Courtesy of Andrew, I just read that abortion doctor George Tiller was murdered inside his church this morning. This was the second time he'd been shot. Andrew has the info on all of this--including the role that an odious Bill O'Reilly (he accused Tiller of running a "death-mill") played in this.  I couldn't even bear to watch the first O'Reilly tape, where he interviews one of Tiller's ex-patients. I've been thinking so much this past week about the right's rhetoric, in relation to Sotomayor--especially toward the end of the week when Rush Limbaugh said the following:

How do you get promoted in a Barack Obama administration? By hating white people or even saying you do, or that they're not good or put 'em down, whatever...make white people the new oppressed minority and they're going right along with it because they're shutting up. They're moving to the back of the bus and I can't use that drinking fountain, okay. I can't use that restroom, okay.
Anyone who knows anything about American history knows what lies at the end of this kind of rhetoric. Anyone who knows what "Redemption" is all about knows where this goes. We don't have the luxury of thinking about these bilious hate-mongers as loonies running off the lip. People are dying. And these shameless goons are cashing checks. Disgusting. I'm sick over this.



Presented by

More at The Atlantic

Meet the 'Fly Boys' of Memphis, the Future of American Education Meet the 'Fly Boys' of Memphis, the Future of Education
Poll of the Day: Americans' Attitudes About Sin Poll of the Day: Americans' Attitudes About Sin
David Cameron, Europe's Latest Scapegoat David Cameron, Europe's Latest Scapegoat
Patrick Fitzgerald, Transcendent Federal Prosecutor, Steps Down Patrick Fitzgerald, Transcendent Federal Prosecutor, Steps Down
The Most Notorious Actor/Director Feuds in Movie History The Most Notorious Actor/Director Feuds in Movie History

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
View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

The American West, 150 Years Ago

May 24, 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)

(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