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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.

We Need To Be More Like The Jews!

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Oct 21 2009, 11:00 AM ET Comment

That was the rallying cry for the nationalists back in the day--"That's the problem with black folks--we can't stick together. We need to be like the Jews! Though don't ever bad-mouth each other in public. And they stick together!"

I've said all this before, but it's worth restating. I told my buddy Eyal about that on a train ride back from Brooklyn, once. He burst out laughing and mentioned that I'd do well to sit in on one of his family dinners.

Anyway, I thought of that reading about this J-Street/AIPAC beef. Black folks swear that they are uniquely afflicted, particularly cursed, and irredeemably divided--unlike white people who live in perpetual Nirvana. This is real talk--I remember when I found out white women went to the hair-dresser. My reaction was basically--For what? Your hair's already straight.  Oh man, so ignorant. One of the lingering effects of racism is the belief that white people don't actually have any problems. White Supremacy depended on the dichotomy--there's a reason why black occurs almost synonymously with poor, but whites who are poor must also be trash.

But I digress. The solution to our woes was obvious--Be more like the Jews! They never fight in public! They always stick together!

It cracks me up, just thinking about it. I hope it's not like that anymore. We really should know by now.


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