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.

Two Points About Eric Massa

By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Mar 11 2010, 2:00 PM ET Comment

1.)  I think it needs to be said that it's really weird to know that there's some white dude named Massa who's reportedly sexually harasses his subordinates. I can't even say the dude's name without wincing. I feel like Cedric in Kings of Comedy. "I'm a grown-ass man, dog. Ain't no way I'm calling some white dude 'Massa'" Of course one of our commenters picked up on it:

If he goes to jail, will the Post headline be 'Massa heading to the Big House' ? Did his aides resent 'Running errands for Massa all day'? It never ends.

To which I might add, in the best Negro dialect I can summon, (like thick Mo-lasses)  "Massa is good white folk" and/or "Don't believe them Yankee lies about Massa."

2.) Jon Stewart did a great job on Massa and Glenn Beck.


Presented by

More at The Atlantic

Sex Selection in America: Why It Persists and How We Can Change It Sex-Selective Abortion Persists in America
Oops! Now You Can Track the Tweets Politicians Tried to Delete Now You Can Track the Tweets Politicians Tried to Delete
How 'Natural' Is Stevia? How 'Natural' Is Stevia?
Why Are Democrats Losing the Wisconsin Recall? Why Are Democrats Losing the Wisconsin Recall?
For the St. Louis Art Museum, a Legal Victory Raises Ethical Questions St. Louis Museum's Legal Victory Raises Ethical Questions

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

Afghanistan: May 2012

Jun 1, 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