"People were not slaves, they were enslaved" | Ta-Nehisi Coates | Google Zeitgeist 2019 

"You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudice quicker than you can convince man by logic." Robert A Heinlin

absolutely. enslaved is the most appropriate word;forces the real conversation most want to avoid

Being a Blackman in this country, I have pain and hatred for white America! I have no energy to forgive at this time in my life, but I hope one day I may! I was molested by a white man when I was 8! A friend was hung and castrated 37 years ago an countless other reasons! Thank you Mr.Coates for shining light on so many issues.

I'm SOOOO happy when she tried to switch the conversation the immigrant families he brought it right back to the TOPIC of discussion. Thank You for that Sir.

This interviewer is really good. Her questions and timing were really thoughtful.

Wow. What a Powerful interview. Heartbreaking, to say the least, how our people and families were destroyed and separated from each other, while being enslaved and tortured at the hands 🤚of this nation, we now call HOME. UNFATHOMABLE.

I love how real and authentic Coates is, Wasnt he also an Author after being a Blogger before becoming a Novelist. He’s so honest, graceful and clear as day about discussing some of the most challenging things, removing blinders everywhere. I’m learning so much from him. His humble presence has its own deep power, like he’s talking to friends so conversationally but about the most difficult shadows in our collective history.

" You must be a really really bad damn businessman doing business with no labour costs and yet die in debt" : Author, Novelist and history journalist Nehisi Coates on Thomas Jefferson's bad business ethics

HE IS SO IMPORTANT.

Is how the interviewer tryed working in immigration by breaking up the family. Their plight can't be compared to the African American experience.

Thank you for keeping in real. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

"Maybe it's worth being respectful & just calling people what they ask for, and maybe you'll catch up a little later. Maybe it takes a second."

He has a new fan, a new follower of his work! I don't know where I've been all this time!

Can we stick to the topic of enslaved people without including other groups geez

Every history teacher in America should read and reference this book.

Excellent video 👋🏿

“Admit that you did and pay us back”.

Powerful and essential clarification. Often, ignorance is racist. Love and gratitude, Mr. Coates.

Great . . . . discussion

Two words, “My man”.

Information is power

thank you! why cant we say whats accurate "enslaved". saying we were slaves would determine our state of being, who we are...AND SLAVES IS NOT WHO WE WERE OR ARE!

The Negro Question series by Lee Cummings clears all this up...

Love this dude! Our new Cornell! ✊🏾

I love the interviewer. Fascinating job! No question about Mr. Ta-Nahesi Coates.

"google Zeitgeist" is that not an oxymoron.

I celebrate this young mans efforts and determination. Being from the midwest I was given a job in his hometown and thought, this is the most depressing city I have ever been in. He has done well and that is awesome

Great man

When i saw the audience i cracked up because of course thats why there were so many interruptions lol

He provides truth in the perspective that our ancestors were people who where kidnapped, tortured and enslaved ... definitely humanizes the experience of our peoples and should not be titled as “the slaves” who they were as a people. Vs “the enslaved” what happened to our people. However, The statement he the author made that lost me was his quote “If the depiction of the slave master is too evil it’s not believable “???? That seems to be a consistent problem with our people in general. As a people “African descendants of the enslaved“ We need to come to terms with the fact that every race of people do not think like us. Everyone is not capable of humane behavior. Those people have demonstrated time and time again from generation to generation, they are incapable of compassion unless it’s towards their beloved and pampered dogs 🐕 . The moment we understand and accept that is the nature this beast and his beastly woman as well ( “she devils “ do not get a pass either “Brothers”), we will be able to see those devils for who they really are and circle the wagons and strategize accordingly! This is critical to acknowledge and prepare for our futures. Black peoples, please Take your heads out of the sand and wake up to the enemies of our lives for centuries and their consistent and constant destructive behavior of violence towards us!

Amazing interview

Why wasn't Dr. Claude Anderson present at the congressional hearings for reparations back in June? I think he would have been a strong ally in honing in the argument as to why African-american should be paid reparations. He broke this all down in excellent detail back in 2000 before the congressional black caucus. The video is posted on Dr. Claude Anderson's youtube page and is a must watch for anyone who has not seen it.

Stay On These Devils ( They Know Whom They Are ) Coates ... Stay Up In They #ss Humanity Hangs In The Balance .

Amazing dialogue, thank you, really needed to hear that.

Genius thinking, we were not slaves as we were labeled, we were ENSLAVED love it!!

REVELATION 13:10 HE THAT LEADETH INTO CAPTIVITY ,SHALL GO INTO CAPTIVITY : HE THAT KILLETH WITH THE SWORD MUST BE KILLED WITH THE SWORD , HERE IS THE PATIENCE AND THE FAITH OF THE SAINTS

Ya Nehisi getting in shape now that’s a real leader

Beautiful brother . Thank you 💜💜💜 I will be getting your book

From Frederick Douglass to Ta-Nehisi Coates ... (in terms of American Writers )... Certainly Ta-Nehisi is a relevant Prophet of these times .. (a Most Significantly RELEVANT COMMUNICATOR of our present day ...) To use the ‘folly’ of prophecy to bring forth to the forefront of awareness what should be OBVIOUS (hence ‘folly’ of prophecy ... To Prophecy - means ‘To Preach ‘ ...) To communicate out right ... what aught to be obvious ... That is the significance of ACKNOWLEDGEMENT... Communicated right out ... An OUTCRY .... An ALERT 🚨 to Significance that needs to, and even DEMANDS to be noticed & EMPHASIZED !🙏🏽 Hearing this young brother is very encouraging to me ... Whatever produced &/or nurtured &/or nourished such a mind .... It is HEROICS TO THE RESCUE ... It is a SAVIOR issuing SALVATION ... “Guard well the avenues of the Heart (&/of Mind) for there flows all the issues of life.- Proverbs The assaults of & on the minds of those victimized by those who enslaved them . The worst brutalities are PSYCHOLOGICAL & SOCIAL It is so fitting a subject matter to address the aspects of terminologies ... ENSLAVED .... Enslaved SOULS ... Enslaved HUMAN BEINGS .... Enslaved PERSONS Enslaved CHILD OF GOD Enslaved members of SOULS CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD “Let us create Man in OUR IMAGE..,” (How much of Darwinism was RACISM...&/or RACIST ) Words do heal ... just as much as the do harm and bring injury to a life ... “For who shall call his brother a fool shall be in danger of hell’s fire 🔥...” But how much more , calling him INSIGNIFICANT SLAVE & (‘N... WORD’ ) ‘N’ Word - NONE SIGNIFICANT ENTITY A Man is a Soul Created in the Image of GOD ... by GOD A Royals Personage .... The Human Race was meant to be a DIVINE ROYAL RACE of Soul dedicated to the Highest Service of The LOVE of The CREATOR towards All HIS Creation 🙏🏽 But Brutal Bigotry has brought the nature of Man to the Nature worst than Brutal Beast ... (a Savage Brutal Beast devours what it consumes for a moment .... But what do we call the nature of brutality that becomes so SYSTEMATIC in INSTITUTIONALIZED ‘ETIQUETTE’ of DEMIZE towards members of the DIVINELY ROYAL RACE

dang why is Coates everywhere in my rec now? is it bc of the Superman movie thing?

You have to be a really bad businessperson to have zero labor costs and die in debt. Genius.

Such a brilliant mind.

Well said sir 👏👏👍💞

Today, we're wage slaves. When u go to work for an employer u give up your freedom for a paycheck. U have no say in the company u work for.

Brilliantly told, conceptually elegant! Now let's MAKE IT HAPPEN! REPARATIONS NOW!!!

Brilliant

Lord knows I love his mind, he's a vessel and doing the GOOD work. I pray for his life, family & gift that it only continues to GIVE.

Exactly. Ive been saying this for years but seems like people only listen when it's on RU-vid smh digital age i swear

What's the name of his book?

One of the most brilliant in our time.

He ain't lying. I went from Rakim to George Lucas to Charles Bukowski. That's the gift of influence and knowledge. Edutainment for real. Lol

Before Toni Morrison (when asked about influences), Ta-Nehisi mentions a novelist as one great influence. I am not a native speaker. Please help me spell out that novelist's name. My respects to Ta-Nehesi. You really touched me deeper... the way you changed the vocabulary: the tasked and the quality... mind shattering.... love it.

I don’t buy the argument. If I label someone a “farmer” rather than a “person who farms,” I’m not reducing their entire being to being a farmer such that I’m not recognizing that the farmer is a full human being with thoughts, feelings, and lived experiences. The reason why the word “slave” is so powerful is precisely because we all recognize that there’s a full human being behind the term. The word “slave” already incorporates the humanity of the slave-powerfully so. We all know this. In other words, the only difference between “slave” and “enslaved person” is that, in the latter, we’re reminding listeners of what is already obvious: that the slave was a person.

Love Ta-Nehisi Coats! Can't wait to read his book "The Water Dancer"

I hope the word chattel was mentioned

We were Prisoners of War,and we all didn't come from Africa, Says Dane Calloway

Just as importantly necessary to address; is the description (master) is unfortunately still spoken in POLITE CONVERSATION when describing ENSLAVERS.

My family moved from Virginia to Connecticut in 1965 and there were no fire bombs. In fact my generation has done quite well for ourselves. Mr. Coates's comic books are hilarious.

Digs this Cat. Kinda reminds me of Evers!

Love this guy

I am ready to move on to the bigger realm of things that happened . It's still not an open dialogue to speak on . It's still closed shut by the Government. The story is told in such a fragmented way. There were so many stories because it applied to so many people from various places and directions . There has to be some sort of atonement .

I want to be paid for our ''out of Africa'' trip, also I want some land in Africa, half of Johannesburg will do, thanks. Also a small town in Turkey for enslaving my nation and a small island in Greece for enslaving my nation, also houses all over Europe for the Roman Empire enslaving my people. That will do, thank you, thanks a lot, so kind!

Somebody will say the same about our generation, years from now.

#LifeStarr: spitting hot 🔥🔥🔥

I like how he slighted the colonizers whom she stated were his influences in writing his book then he named his influences: Tony Morrison & Frederick Douglass and he paid them homage at the same time.❤✌🏾👊🏾

Damn i thought the brotha was wee bey in the thumbnail

Thanks for this. Coates exudes wisdom. That said, the same thing is still going on in South America. To wit the coup in Bolivia where the indigenous majority has again been disenfranchised by US colonial interests and their wealthy tools in the country. What is Google doing about that? How far can public discourse be pushed in this regard becase national interest seems to go right against the spirit of this talk.

SEMANTICS!

Who's the guy doing the interview? She sure is handsome!

Amnesia is not what they do,they don't forget, they change the story, in order to change it you remember just fine ,you just alter the parts you don't agree with.

Words Matter .... Terminologies Matter ..... and The Pen is still Mightier then The Sword 🙏🏽👍🏾 AMEN 🙏🏽!

Tranfer of wealth to whites is a good way of phraising it and what needs to be done is a withdrawal of those funds and given back to their rightful owners which is the the community that have been torn apart and held back for the whites weath health and comfort. Those who think it's a victom mentality should try and see it in the way that if you have a bank acct and the bank stold 20% of your money that you worked for and were ugeting for the well being and wealth of your family. You would dam sure raise hell about your money. You would not say oh well that happened yesterday and I shouldn't see myswlf as a victom of a crime.

I've always used the term Kidnapped Africans which is what the hell it was... Facts... Truth

“It always happened like this. This is what I had been told. Bored whites were barbarian whites. While they played at aristocrats, we were their well appointed and stoic attendants. But when they tired of dignity, the bottom fell out. New games were anointed and we were but pieces on the board. It was terrifying. There was no limit to what they might do at this end of the tether...” Excerpt from The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

I never knew The Atlantic was a blog! Smh

DEUTERONOMY 28:48 THEREFORE SHALT THOU SERVE THINE ENEMIES WHICH THE LORD SHALL SEND AGAINST THEE , IN HUNGER ,AND IN THIRST , AND IN NAKEDNESS ,AND IN THE WANT OF ALL THINGS : AND HE SHALL PUT A YOKE OF IRON UPON THY NECK , UNTIL HE HAVE DESTROYED THEE

What were they? Permanent indentured servants?

GALATIANS 6:7 BE NOT DECEIVED GOD IS NOT MOCKED FOR WHATSOEVER A MAN SOWETH THAT SHALL HE ALSO REAP

God Bless Him.

This is so important, is there a way to get the captions edited so that the video will conform to accessibility standards. That way educators could use it in their classrooms.

WOW.....

15:00 separating children from guardians often occurs in the U.S. with U.S. citizens.... when parents are incarcerated ! Why should immigrants who go through a non-legal process have a better situation compared with U.S. citizens?

As an #ADOS, I personally would never consider spending money to tour neither USA plantations and their gift shops or any of the castles on the continent of Africa-which housed my enslaved ancestors awaiting their shipment to the Americas as SLAVES. I view it as an insult & sacrilege to my ancestors to charge their descendants to tour their torture grounds. Period. Plantations received our ancestors free labor & now they want their descendants to support plantation businesses. Pitiful!

of course, google

This is not our first slavery.

This goes in the ranking of one of the greatest works of fiction for me. Excellent.

The problem is How do you give back to a color? When dealing with a complex system wording when asking is everything.

#yanggang

I quit using the word 'SLAVES' some years back exchanging it for enslaved peoples. Happy to meet a like minded .

No REPARATION NO VOTE, # ADOS THE BLACK VETERAN SC.

Should I be impressed?

See Dane Calaway Videos for more information research strong and long and asks many questions about every thing with constant cross reference.

There will be a pray day, " recompense I will repay ", says the Lord, he's the ultimate negotiator. Slave / enslaved / force free labor, they will be enslaved, for God said so. Killing us will make their time that much difficult, a thousand years.

Enslave, literally means to make a slave 🤔

He didn`t lie, nor did he exaggerate. His insights were keen, and he expressed them vividly, directly and truthfully, despite the fact that he was speaking to an almost entirely white audience. I learned some important things.

Wow

The R The eighteenth letter.

Well said about black families sir.

7:30 8:00

He’s such a powerful speaker. White people are still defending the Confederacy so slavery will never be a topic that gets old. It’s always relevant.