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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.

Sometimes You Should Say Nothing

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Feb 13 2012, 1:00 PM ET Comment



That's Whitlock on Jeremy Lin. I understand that it's hard to button it when you write for food, as I do. Perhaps it's impossible when, in your professional life, you write things like this:

"She'd rather eat, half-ass her way through non-major tournaments and complain she's not getting the respect her 11-major-championships résumé demands...[S]eriously, how else can Serena [Williams] fill out her size 16 shorts without grazing at her stall between matches?" 

"And you probably think I don't like Serena. You're wrong. I love her. She's the main reason I watch tennis. She's fascinating. Her power and skill are breathtaking. And when she's in shape, she's every bit as sexy as Beyonce."

There is a theory that "anyone" who talks for a living will eventually say something homophobic/racist/sexist. I think it's much more likely that if you talk for a living you will slowly reveal yourself. Roland Martin's tweet did not come out of thin air. Even in the age of spin, I think what people say has meaning.



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