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bravenak

(34,648 posts)
Wed Jun 25, 2014, 09:40 PM Jun 2014

How Racism Invented Race in America [View all]

The case for reparations: a narrative bibliography
TA-NEHISI COATESJUN 23 2014, 3:26 PM ET


As I've said before, the idea of reparations precedes this month's cover of The Atlantic, and the work around it—among scholars, activists, and writers—has been ongoing, even if the interest of the broader world is fickle. Following up on the autopsy of an idea, I thought I'd give some larger sense of how something like this came to be. My hope is to give people who are interested some entrée into further reading, and also to credit the antecedents to my own thinking. Perhaps most importantly, I wish to return to one of the original features of blogging—the documentation of public thinking. I would suggest that more writers, more academics, and more journalists do this, and do so honestly. It have come to believe that arguing with the self is as important as arguing with the broader world.

Okay. On y va.

Recently, a young woman told me that this generation of Americans was "the most diverse in American history." The assumption was that across the span of that history, there was some immutable group of racial categories whose numbers we could compare. I am not sure this holds up. Biracial is a new category for America, but it is not clear to me that today there are relatively more children of black and white unions than there were in the past. We certainly are more apt to acknowledge them as such, and that is a good thing. Nevertheless, the assumption of that "something new" is happening "racially," that these terms are somehow constant is one of the great, and underestimated, barriers to understanding the case for reparations.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/06/the-case-for-reparations-a-narrative-bibliography/372000/
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/06/slavery-made-america/373288/

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Hell of a read. Thanks for posting this article Number23 Jun 2014 #1
Okay ... that hooked me ... 1StrongBlackMan Jun 2014 #3
It's a great read Number23 Jun 2014 #5
Asians especially Generic Other Jun 2014 #11
Exactly. And it's a shame considering how utterly gorgeous so many Asian women are Number23 Jun 2014 #15
He gets it right, i check for his articles every week.nt bravenak Jun 2014 #4
Posted to for morning reading. eom. 1StrongBlackMan Jun 2014 #2
I think he has more coming soon. bravenak Jun 2014 #8
I know he does. eom. 1StrongBlackMan Jun 2014 #9
K&R nomorenomore08 Jun 2014 #6
Hola!!! bravenak Jun 2014 #7
TNC also talked about Blight's lecture series RainDog Jun 2014 #10
Thank you, I enjoyed that.nt bravenak Jun 2014 #13
Kicked and recommended. Uncle Joe Jun 2014 #12
You're welcome. bravenak Jun 2014 #14
Interesting article Egnever Jun 2014 #16
Welcome. More coming soon.nt bravenak Jun 2014 #24
interesting, B- tks for posting bettyellen Jun 2014 #17
No way i could stop myself from posting Ta- Nehisi Coates. bravenak Jun 2014 #23
Admittedly interesting, to be truthful. AverageJoe90 Jun 2014 #18
I figured you would appreciate a more in depth explanation of his sources. bravenak Jun 2014 #22
The closing paragraph says a great deal JustAnotherGen Jun 2014 #19
The nostalgia irritates me a bit. :) bravenak Jun 2014 #21
Kick for the lunch crowd! JustAnotherGen Jun 2014 #20
I made sure to facebook it so you would see in case you skipped DU today. bravenak Jun 2014 #25
That IS how I found it! JustAnotherGen Jun 2014 #27
Thanks for posting these bravenak. sheshe2 Jun 2014 #26
I felt my brain tingle whole i read them. bravenak Jun 2014 #28
I've learned a lot from them bravenak. sheshe2 Jun 2014 #29
It's decent. bravenak Jun 2014 #30
Thanks. sheshe2 Jun 2014 #31
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