You guys were hoping I'd eventually bring back this thread! And now seems as good a time as any. I stumbled on a fascinating exchange a while back between two very thoughtful and well-regarded political writers, Jonathan Chait and Ta Nehisi-Coates, in which they both took turns strongly, yet in most gentlemanly fashion, skewering each other's arguments:
http://spiegelandgrau.tumblr.com/pos...ates-and-chait
We should all aspire to such clarity and eloquently written thoughts.
I take Chait's side on this discussion, that there has been a slow and steady progress in this country wrt racism, "the slow and strong boring of hard boards," while I know many ITF will agree with Coates (and Malcolm X) that progress on this issue has been more akin to "merely pulling the knife slightly farther out of a man’s back." So I think there is much to discuss.
A summary of reading material in the link for anyone interested, and I'll be cutting out arguments to discuss soon.
Quote:
Ta-Nehisi Coates Vs. Jonathan Chait Debate: A Master Class
Coates* and Chait's blog debate on the culture of poverty in America was emotionally and intellectually riveting--we literally laughed, raged, cheered, and shed a tear or two at the S&G offices. Just in case you missed it or you blinked and skipped a moment of brilliance here it is in all its glory.
*Full disclosure: S&G is publishing Coates's forthcoming book in 2015. You'll love it.
TA-NEHISI COATES
Barack Obama, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Poverty, and Culture
The relationship between culture and poverty starkly divides not just liberals against conservatives, but also liberals against each other. Yet liberals rarely think through their disagreements publicly, even though - or perhaps because - they pit figures like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama against their own supporters.
THE ORIGIN: Coates takes his son to a French film festival and is forced to contemplate the REAL "real culture problem [in America] that has to be dealt with."
JONATHAN CHAIT
THE RESPONSE: Chait argues that "personal responsibility" is a portion of the complicated way to overcome the black poverty bias, but not the reason that narrative exists.
Black Pathology and the Closing of the Progressive Mind
Among opinion writers, Jonathan Chait is outranked in my esteem only by Hendrik Hertzberg. This lovely takedown of Robert Johnson is a classic of the genre, one I studied incessantly when I was sharpening my own sword. The sharpening never ends.
TA-NEHISI COATES
THE REBUTTAL: Coates disentangles the theory of "cultural residue" and the evidence of white suppression in America.
Barack Obama vs. the Culture of Poverty
Park Slope Pavilion Has Cops Eject Moviegoer for Eating Fruit Is This a Tech Bubble or Not? Four years ago, Ta Nehisi-Coates wrote one of the most important and memorable essays I've ever read.
JONATHAN CHAIT
Chait sees "grim fatalism" at the core of Coates's argument, points out progress in reducing the influence of white supremacy, and uses Coates's 2010 blog post about his own professional struggles to uphold the black culture of poverty.
Other People's Pathologies
Over the past week or so, Jonathan Chait and I have enjoyed an ongoing debate over the rhetoric the president employs when addressing African Americans. Here is my initial installment, Chait's initial rebuttal, my subsequent reply, and Chait's latest riposte.
TA-NEHISI COATES
Coates draws a distinction between the "culture of poverty" and black culture, re-frames Chiat's "progress" as incremental differences in ongoing oppression, and urges white America to face their past without equivocating and acknowledge that our democracy was built on and is reinforced by institutionalized inequality.
Ta-Nehisi Coates Disagrees With 'Jonathan Chait,' and So Do I
Malaysia Also Mixed Up Flight 370's Last Words Michael Lewis Beefing With a Banker, Right on Time Ta-Nehisi Coates and I started having a fascinating debate about the beliefs of President Obama. Coates has turned it into a less-fascinating debate about my beliefs, or what he calls my beliefs.
JONATHAN CHAIT
Chait draws a line in the sand between his and Coats's beliefs and clarifies both his position on the intersection of African American communities and the culture of poverty and his faith in the progress--albeit slow--of policy.
The Blue Period: An Origin Story
The secret origins of "the blue period"--if that's what we're calling it--lay in the video embedded above.
TA-NEHISI COATES
Because why stop when you're on fire, Coates follows up with this piece on the never-ending struggle and reward of knowing your history.
