"A Conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates" with Kathryn Edin, Bruce Western & William Julius Wilson

[@lifestraight]

Maggie Williams introduction and salutations 0:16 Shot of the audience 4:32 Ta-Nehisi Coates is asked to define mass incarceration and it's relation to race and racial progress 9:06 Connection between high incarceration rates and understanding America's race problem 13:01 1970s crime trends and how America dealt with it differently 15:30 Ramifications of presumed criminality of Black people made manifest in government policy 17:44 Presumed Black criminality and lessons to Coates' son 19:25 Connection between violence and poverty and growing up in Baltimore 22:14 Incarceration, police brutality, police violence, Freddie Gray 25:56 Questions that should be asked before examining or questioning begins 27:35 What does justice look like in face of mass incarceration 29:13 Joke about Ta-Nehisi pessimism "You guys are naive!" 35:12 - 35:37 Kathy and William Julius Wilson join panel 35:46 Wilson response to conversation 36:38 Important point regarding income and racial segregation and disadvantages of this 39:15 Linkage between institutional resource base, community organizations, parenting, and crime 43:24 Family 45:57 Direct versus indirect interventions into family 53:34 Q&A 57:16 Interesting question about how African-Americans today view themselves in relation to formerly enslaved 1:02:52 Labor relations of Brown people in France 1:08:07

[@ningenJMK]

Thank you!

[@conduitofthegospeldarrellb9154]

One of the greatest voices for TRUTH and LIBERTY in our generation. Hands down

[@1911beauty]

This is a 30 year old commentary that needs to move to the next level. There are practical issues attached to living together. White people are afraid of black people. I was in a store on Friday. The lady who has waited on me several times, is just now figure out how to work with me. She is about 70. But she thinks i should come into the store and meet her dress standards. She also thinks i should choose to opt for her exceptable form of payments. (Credit, debit, layaway, financing) this man said one thing that makes sense to me. " Policing is directly tied to policy" If a student does not follow legitimate instructions from an adult in a school, they need to be asked to leave.... point, blank, period. I lived in a city that never had formal segregation. I went thru the public schools, graduated from a university on the other side of town, and went to grad school 2 hours from my home. The system was not set up for people like me. Things are much better for black students today. I graduated in 2000. Technology forced universities to change the way they deal with students. I fought to go to school. Nobody in my family thought i would survive the process. But on the flip side, I was s numbers person and a linear thinker. I loved History, and i had the ability to see my life from teo sides of the coin. On paper i was pretty well off. My step dad had a good job and we lived on the better side of town. However, my step dad abused my mother and was addicted to heroine. I lived on the bad side of Town with my grandmother. She worked at a factory and my grandfather worked at GM. I had aunts who had already graduated from college. I had a cousin who graduated from Princeton. I had a gift for gab, i was attractive, and a great memory. I say all of this to say, black white, green, or yellow it all depends on how bad you want. I was wounded more by liberals trying to help me than i ever was by racists calling me a nigga or faggot, i happened to be both. AIDS was the issue of the 90s. I had great practical teachers eho answered the call of that time to i form us so we wouldn't die. I did what my health teacher said do and i didn't contract aids. I could read, do basic math, and self regulate. I am a libertarian leaning republican. If government would get out of the business of saving people and let the church, Schools, and family the do what it can, we can save money. From a practical stand point, there is never a time where a child should behave in such a way to have to be removed. With equality comes the right to have everybody behave just like you. So what do you do when that happens. The nature of the universe is tragic. There is never enough of anything for all of the people who want them. The thing that makes America great is the opportunities that are available. I am so disappointed in my undergraduate institution. But change has come. But the the change has brought about just as many unintended consequences. I am not a coats fan. I find him limited. But he suggests a world that is not 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@CM-qi8dh]

I am so pleased that you are speaking up and wish more people would do so.

[@pepelepeau]

i really enjoyed this convo.thanks so much!

[@meeluumeeloo4318]

+David Forth Agreed! :)

[@christenasmalls6118]

I have never been afraid of anyone. I guess I am an older generation born in the deep south in 1949 on a Sea Island of SC where my ancestors owned property immediately after freedom and was isolated from day to day interactions with whites. Never once did my parents, grandparents, great grandparents allowed us to have fear of others, plus they never said anything negative about any race. There was a knowledge that there was no one greater than yourself but God. But it is good to learn that there was those who had a different life that I have only read about.

[@earlogarro1173]

A breath of fresh air.

[@sofiasavchenko1170]

closed captions?

[@lifestraight]

1:08:08 The comment about Brown people being security guards at department stores in France is also applicable to New York City. Go to the Lower East Side, West Village, Upper East Side, Upper West Side and you will find Black men sitting on stools or standing guard outside of white establishments checking IDs and admitting or denying patrons entry into the various bars or lounges.

[@CM-qi8dh]

Thank God for such a Democratic Black Speaker brought to speak on Social Consciousness in the Black Community.

[@danieltesfayemamo7458]

if I take this analogy and say "don't scratch where it doesn't itch" where do you think Americans are itching in connection with race and addressing African American issues.

[@08CARIB]

I enjoyed this, but I was a bit disappointed in W.J. Wilson's delivery as well as Bruce Western

[@alejandrarodriguezsanchez6667]

they are conservatives and they dont accept any of Ta-Nehisi's approach... its really disgusting

[@jackieweber6449]

I don’t think the panel engaged TaNihisi to his point of consciousness. It was difficult to listen to the comments and questions posed by the interviewer and panel.

[@ricardojohnson8679]

that was smart for coates not to answer because he didn't want to turn it into a debate.

[@michaelcavella4597]

11:53 "you find a lower rate in the south because the south was essentially a police state" says the guy who just used Russia and China as the barometer of those incarcerated in the U.S

[@kneomokgopa2943]

Why are there so many glasses of water?

[@asalafistudent]

I don't have to tell you that the Boule ( Wilson) is at it again to protect his status. Reperations is problmatic for these gatekeepers. Blacks weren't clustered but forced into gettos by policy. He touts data but it's empty. Status is a scapegoat for overall condition. Proximity crime doesn't solve the larger picture. He got out and hid quietly behide insignificant data. while ignoring the crime which created thoes neighborhoods.

[@r2dege]

Why did this end up become a passive-aggressive assault on Ta-Nehisi's family set up?

[@forlangspencer5136]

It’s like living in a world within a world where the dangers of both are inescapable

[@michaelcavella4597]

"already a historical figure" what the hell does that mean?

[@growden100]

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." "...except as a punishment for crime..." This was an intentional loophole that helped America establish a slave patrol and the prison complex.

[@candacytaylor4904]

What a powerful and inspiring conversation.

[@forlangspencer5136]

We have to be harder we have to be tougher and we have to be stronger than everybody else just to keep others around us from preying on us

[@douglassmith4890]

Damien Hanley has missed the point of Coates' (and the other panelists) point entirely, and his statement should be disregarded as ignorant and devisive.

[@ASMRFASCINATION]

At 40:55 this guy has some valuable information but boy is he boring, he doesn't even seem interested in his own information. He needs to reevaluate his presentation Style

[@bobcat9978]

His name is not that hard to pronounce lol

[@lifestraight]

+Black_Wookie Word...Tah-nuh-hah-see

[@jamesking5508]

there are cases of kids who grew up in homes where parents sexually abused them...And they became sexual perverts when they grew up. What? why would anyone want to become what they hate and what destroyed them.....IF A BLACK PERSON WAS VICTIM OF BIGOTRY WHY WOULD HE/SHE BECOME A BIGOT?.... THAT IS NOT ONLY STUPID BUT SHOWS HATE WAS IN PERSON WAITING TO COME OUT....A BLACK BIGOT PLUS A WHITE BIGOT DOES NOT EQUAL A NICE PERSON ....(NO MORE THAN TWO PILES OF MANURE EQUAL SWEET POTATO PIE) WHAT IS DOES EQUAL IS TWO HATEFUL RACIST IDIOTS......IDIOTS AND MURDERERS COME IN ALL COLORS.....NOW SEEMS LIKE BLACKS ARE COMING FORWARD WITH EXCUSES FROM 100 YEARS AGO AND MORE RECENTLY TO HATE SOMEONE BECAUSE OF THE COLOR OF THEIR SKIN...SOUND FAMILIAR MR/MRS BIGOT?.....LYNCH MOB MENTALITY IS VERY DANGEROUS TO ALL OF US.....

[@scottbaker5878]

when people commit crime the correct response is incarceration. if people don't commit crime they are not incarcerated.

[@WIZ-BK-LA]

In theory that statement is correct unfortunately too many black and brown people are falsely arrested, arrested without proper representation, bail is set above financial means or criminalizing none criminal actions like marijuana possession then only policing certain areas among several other factors. One example is making acts like loitering a criminal act and abusing individuals to a degree that any protest is falsely charged as resisting police.

[@madameclark3453]

MLK was treated by the highest powers like a criminal, okay, I’ll accept that as true, but the general public did not perceive him as a criminal. What is your point?

[@tclay1122]

You are Truth !

[@sharongillesp]

Ta-Nehisi Coates was the only articulate and engaging person on the stage. Wilson starts to recite a list of statistics no one can keep in mind during a forum of discussion - wrong situation - Wilson came off as dull and dry.

[@jerrycampbell5937]

The major issue facing america is the decline of american morals.

[@dpotemkin]

"I'm not pessimistic. You guys are naive." Perfect!

[@52daytripper]

ugh, too much dishonesty deceit and BS

[@Tylinsoden]

This is hard to listen to. Wa wa.

[@Sonturist]

Aaron Dadey why?

[@yardmakeovers8088]

I'm sorry,the only way this dialogue would be interesting to you was if white people went through what blacks did.The poor of Europe came here for hope of a better life.The colonists that came from Europe had nothing,a large number of them where criminals and crooked people, yet people trying to come here from nations of color are no longer welcomed by those white immigrants.Some white people choose not to hear the sickening side of American history

[@DamianHanley239]

I love how this guy talks about incarceration like it's not the best way to deal with criminally violent people...? Like there's some magical alternative that we should employ. Anyone that's ever been to prison will tell you that most of those people belong there... They terrorize society and we're supposed to put them on probation and give them anger management? Academics never want to face reality...

[@douglassmith4890]

you have completely misconstrued the panelists' points on incarnation. At no point does anyone suggest that incarceration should stop. Alternatively, the suggestion is that incarceration be improved to return otherwise productive individuals to the community with a chance to contribute.

[@DamianHanley239]

I'm assuming you have never been incarcerated before? Once a person has broken the law enough times and failed probation enough times to land themselves in prison, they've become something that society can't deal with... you don't rehabilitate people and they are not otherwise productive. The criminal justice system is actually extremely lenient, people get many chances to reform themselves before they end up in prison...

[@douglassmith4890]

+Damian Hanley not only do you assume at your own peril, but as an attorney, I assure you that you have a greatly misguided view of the U.S. criminal justice system. I suggest that you read the Case for Reparations by Ta'Nahissi Coates, and observe the footnotes relating to incarceration, if you are serious about having an informed opinion on the issue.

[@damianhanleyinc1776]

+Douglas Smith I guess I'll just remain ignorant and continue holding people responsible for their actions. I read his Atlantic article and almost puked. However, I DO believe institutional racism exists and that it is wrong, but Coates speaks of the Black Man's life in generalizations and statistics... where NONE of us live. We all live as individuals... who have choices. I think our lenses are just seriously different... that is, if I had a father who had 7 kids with 4 different women... I might grow up feeling a little victimized too.

[@douglassmith4890]

+Damian Hanley Inc If you TRULY believed in holding people reaponsible for their actions, the idea of reparations wouldn't disgust you. This country owes a debt to those who paid taxes for government programs they were precluded from participating in. (if you were wondering, that is the institutionalized racism you love so much) Otherwise known as taxation without representation.