Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

sheshe2

(87,495 posts)
Mon Dec 12, 2016, 04:04 PM Dec 2016

My President Was Black

WATCH: Ta-Nehisi Coates Talks to President Obama About Social, Political Construction of Race
“My President Was Black” will appear in the January/February 2017 issue of The Atlantic.


The full text of the January/February 2017 double issue of The Atlantic is not yet available online, but the cover story is already generating attention.




In “My President Was Black,” Ta-Nehisi Coates talks to President Barack Obama about how he—the nation’s first Black president—approaches race both personally and politically. Ahead of the release of the cover story, The Atlantic posted illustrated audio on Friday (December 9) of an interview Coates conducted with Obama. Listen in as Obama breaks down how his mixed racial background influenced his approach to winning the White House, and how spending time abroad shapes his view of America’s racial politics and dynamics as part of a global whole, “rather than something that was unique and I was trapped in.”

Obama also describes how race as a construct lead to the election of Donald Trump. “The suspicion between races in part comes out of people’s daily interactions and the fact that we’re segregated by communities and by schools and our churches. But some of it is constructed on a constant basis. It’s being created all the time,” he says. “Good people who are not instinctively afraid or concerned about an African American in authority can be made afraid and suspicious and fearful because of what they’re seeing, hearing and reading, if its not attached to the facts and the evidence and reality. It has shaped an entire generation of voters and tapped into their deepest anxieties.”

snip//



More: http://www.colorlines.com/articles/watch-ta-nehisi-coates-talks-president-obama-about-social-political-construction-race?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+racewireblog+%28Colorlines.com%29

____________________________________

Video at the link. Also the story will posted online tomorrow 12/13/16

1 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
My President Was Black (Original Post) sheshe2 Dec 2016 OP
And millions of US citizens still resent that fact. guillaumeb Dec 2016 #1

guillaumeb

(42,649 posts)
1. And millions of US citizens still resent that fact.
Mon Dec 12, 2016, 04:20 PM
Dec 2016

Trump is merely the latest manifestation of racial hatred in the US. He is Reagan without the thin façade of "nice" that enabled Reagan to be just as racist and nasty as Trump while seeming to be a nice guy.

President Obama was almost without exception polite, well spoken, and willing to see both sides, but he was seen and treated by the GOP as if he were a Stokely Carmichael type intent on burning down white America.

Latest Discussions»Alliance Forums»African American»My President Was Black