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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.

'White Privilege'

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Jul 27 2010, 11:00 AM ET Comment

A quick addendum--I've tried, over the past few years, to really drop this phrase from my writing. In part for the reasons below, I find it insufficient, and vague. It feels like something you say when you know something's wrong, but you don't want to do the hard, intellectual work of specifically naming it. This is not out of any desire to please or be polite--I just don't find the term particularly rigorous.

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