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.

A Rising Tide...

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Jun 23 2009, 1:25 PM ET Comment

It won't do. That answer on black unemployment was awful. I'm out of my realm here, and I'm not sure what should be done. Economics isn't my area. But Obama's basic position seems to be that government really has no active role in rectifying racial disparities. If that's his position, then he should say it. If his position is that it's better to target by other demographic categories, besides race, he should say that. But he ducked that one. And then ducked the follow-up. Weak, weak, weak.

I'm hoping someone with a better grasp of the numbers will challenge him on this. Not in that weak "You didn't say Martin Luther King's whole name" way, but in a serious policy-driven way.

UPDATE: I've got two editors breathing down my neck for stories, and this blog, and my own reading. But the answer really pissed me off--so much so, that I am really going to try to expend some shoe leather this week and get underneath of it.

I think what really got me was, as much as I appreciate what Obama has done with respect to black media, I don't think he took the question seriously. I don't think his answer was particularly thoughtful, or illuminating. Which says to me he hasn't been thinking about it. I could be wrong, but it's what I feel.

I need to go do my damn job...


Presented by

More at The Atlantic

Why Israel Might Believe Attacking Iran Is Worthwhile Why Israeli Leaders Might Believe Attacking Iran Is Worth the Effort
The GOP Primary Is Badly Wounding Mitt Romney Why a Long Primary Fight Will Hurt Romney
Mourning in America: Whitney Houston and the Social Speed of Grief Whitney Houston's Death and the Social Speed of Grief
The Reverent, Ridiculous Grammys The Reverent, Ridiculous Grammys
What Matters in President Obama's 2013 Budget What Matters in President Obama's 2013 Budget

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

Athens in Flames

Feb 13, 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