Keynote address at the For the Public Good Conference, held on March 28, 2014 at Barnard College. More information is available at bcrw.barnard.edu/event/for-the...
27:35 Condoleeza Rice said slavery is America's birth defect. But Coates says it's America's handmaiden. 28:15 If you sold all the slaves before Civil War they'd be worth 3 billion dollars.
You sound very ignorant to the process of slavery and the appraisal of a slave, in general. The monetary worth explained is contingent on what they contribute on average, and not how much they were sold for during that period. I have an innate feeling you're just baiting, but I figured I'd provide further context to the point that Coates made.
After Toni Morrison in any form and James Baldwin, Ta-Nehisi Coates is a literary hero to me! I wish to comment about a turn of phrase used after discussion of Henry "Box" Brown at apprx. 27:17. Mr. Coates says of slavery and its destruction of Black relationships and families -- that this was " ... common (occurrence) ... just what happened in America ..." Having been taught by Irish Catholic Nuns in an elementary school I integrated, and predominantly by white teachers throughout my education, I have developed a highly trained and analytic ear. So, I wish to clarify just for those of any background who might need that: Just because something is "common" does not mean it's Okay! Further, I would add that as is typical throughout American history as it relates to Blacks, minorities, women and those without a voice, just because slavery activity was "common" and it was the reality of life for most Blacks especially on the run up to the Civil War -- those two facts in no way diminish or negate that buying and selling of human beings for profit and bondage is wrong, immoral and unconscionable -- even if it was done by a Methodist Minister among many, many others. My metric used here is if interaction is fun/funny, and in this case profitable for one, but not for the other(s) in the exchange, then there is a problem -- in this case a serious issue of corruption. In my point of view legitimacy is not ascribed by majority rule -- that distorted thought is part of the foundational elements of what I term "the cancer of the American soul" -- exclusionary political and governmental policies driven by the spiritually bereft and emotionally immature demands of unactualized members of American society. We need among other things to group up as a nation!
+Kyra Gaunt, Ph.D. When Obama became president it set a precedent of complacency in the cool waters of apathy. We simply felt that the issues facing us would simply fix itself by the mere presence of a black president. We felt the oppression of white supremacy was easing it's reins, while ignoring the dark clouds of a rain storm of racist backlash. We never required Obama to do anything for black people and reveled in the fallacy of nouveau equality, in a fantasy of a colorblind society.
+Jsin victim the absurdity in your response is quite telling. The absence of knowledge allows one to make silly comments lacking in substance and analysis.
This is one of the strangest threads I've ever been part of. Google+ seems like convos with strangers who bring their own contexts along and don't care if others share them. It's disconcerting and curious to observe. #confused
