Ta-Nehisi Coates on Joe Biden’s 2020 Victory

[@AtypicalPaul]

I don't think people were celebrating Biden's win they were celebrating trump losing.

[@v2btrthnu24]

True, there were people who celebrated Trump losing, but there were also a lot of people who celebrated Biden winning including myself (and I am only in my early 30s and a millennial so I may be a little bit of a deviation from others my age and younger).

[@Lil08103]

if they're under 40, it's probably more "bye trump" than "yeah biden", bc we're definitely quite left of biden

[@MorganAlexis]

And some were celebrating Kamala Harris

[@Lil08103]

@@MorganAlexis good point.

[@shawn2789]

@@MorganAlexis why?

[@NewMessage]

Biden is willing to entertain the idea that he's wrong about something, and listen to your reasons why. He's not 'perfect', but he's the definition of a decent person. Kamala will shape him up on the things he needs to rethink. The two of them together will surprise us, I think.

[@ayewhaddupdoe]

Why? Throughout their careers they've given us nothing to be comfortable about. Yeah, we beat Trump, but we can't pretend Biden and Harris don't have a record of being FOR the people, unless you think "the people" are big corporations, privatized prisons, and the military industrial complex. Yeah, we're in better shape to fix things with Biden, but let's not take our foot off their throat just yet.

[@lauravenables100]

Being responsible for the deaths of so many civilians and being accused by so many women of sexual assault (and that’s before we get near the policy ) may still make you narrowly better than Trump but that’s it. Decent? Not in my world.

[@BarberJ95]

I get that they’re so much better but this falsification of who Biden and Kamala are doesn’t help much. He literally never listens though, he said “give me a break” when talking about what young people go through these days. He refuses to acknowledge that the private health insurance market isn’t enough and that inherently having a profit motive in healthcare is morally repugnant. And as for a decent person, he’s not that either. He wouldn’t let other Thomas accusers testify, on the floor of the Senate for the crime bill said how mandatory minimums are necessary and how he didn’t care about how bad their lives must have been to lead them to crime. Not to be rude, I’m hoping they’ll surprise us but their records don’t inspire confidence.

[@taylorgabrielle6403]

I don’t think so. He’s barely for raising the minimum wage. It’s just gonna be more of the same taking care of the corporations and the wealthy donors and leaving the people for last.

[@andreaperry938]

I agree. It may not be revolutionary but I believe their contributions will be positive.

[@terrys795]

Much love and respect for you Mr Coates. Thank you for sharing your invaluable voice with the world.

[@aimee4875]

I’m just reading Between The World And Me for my college English class. I don’t like to read whatsoever but it’s a really really well written book!!

[@soniagalvan8345]

​@M C not everyone has the same early experiences with reading. That sounds quite judgemental.

[@aimee4875]

@M C i’m still in college but thanks for your kind words?

[@Largo3point0]

I’ve never heard Coates speak without his wife coming up. Kinda nice to finally see a pic of her.

[@NatRoberts]

Ta-Nehisi Coates was always exactly the person I wanted to hear from through all of *gestures* this

[@lenapontes2863]

Ta-nehisi is too good looking, well spoken, and accomplished 😭😭 you can't do it all like that... making everyone else look bad. Between the world and me was suuuuch a good book

[@user-pe9qg3hg3k]

I love how he wrote 'A Novel' at the bottom of the book to remind me that I was about to read a book. Like, I would have mistaken it for a Washing Machine were it not for that.

[@appletree6898]

As opposed to nonfiction, like he has written before.

[@The.End.Begins24]

Seth @3:20 I love the way he asks a question.

[@Aba_Ifeoma]

Thank you from the depth of my soul for sparking the national conversation regarding reparations, and race in America. You are my favorite author/writer!

[@jessf1663]

Almost anybody is a better choice than trump.

[@pavlovsworld9122]

Really?... cCP better then Trump u say?..

[@AZOffRoadster]

@Ted Kazinsky So you're saying you're a QAnon QBert? That's a shame.

[@jessf1663]

@@AZOffRoadster Maybe for you.

[@jessf1663]

@@pavlovsworld9122 maybe for you.

[@pavlovsworld9122]

@@jessf1663 research ccp belt and road initiative and their debt diplomacy policy.. China is waging all out war on the west and has compromised American officials in every sector and industry... gov. Education, academia, etc... ccp lends money and when u can't pay they take ownership.. thats old cool communist "collectivisation" strategy... ccp loves Biden being in office. He's already stated China is his friend..

[@TheSuzberry]

I love Coates writing.

[@isdowning883]

A humble apartment houses a true genius. Just wow.

[@brianmcmillan8143]

Farthest thing from a genius

[@grimlock1211]

A captive of white liberal victimhood race hustling narratives is not a genius definition.

[@gggg-mz2gk]

"They were not human to me. Black, white, or whatever, they were the menaces of nature"- Black supremacist Ta-Nehisi Coates talking about 9/11 first responders

[@firesign4297]

Celebrating in the Streets .....was just A Pure STRESS.. Reliever!!!🙏🙏🙏 😪Amen.🙏🙏🙏😞

[@protitikhan3861]

People were not dancing in the streets for Biden, they were figuratively dancing on Trump's political grave.

[@craffte]

Some ppl need clarification smh

[@blackbird5634]

We are a better world with Mr Coates and his writing.

[@nickr7703]

No

[@alexannae]

BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME IS A MOVIE??? Also the water dancer is such an amazing book (but was released last year lol) and the baby locs? 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

[@alexannae]

Also when he did a convocation speech at my school in 2015 everyone was so silent and we couldn’t fit everyone in the chapel you could hear a pin drop it was so wild. Professors were like there has been no convocation so quiet ever

[@TheDuckMaster12]

I wonder if anyone’s done this: Ta Na Naaa Na Ta Na Naaa Na Heh Heh Si CoOoOoooates!

[@nanabyoutube6759]

This is critical and must go forth.

[@joelo3527]

less of the interview spent on why Biden's term won't be so great, but great interview anyway. Last late-night host with any integrity

[@tracyclark7560]

love me some Ta Nehisi, once I found out who he was! Still in Paris?

[@albertmarionlim6069]

You can play a drinking game and take a shot each time when he says you know

[@nsn5564]

Thank you for changing the title.

[@nsn5564]

The story title was unnecessarily divisive, misleading and clickbaity. Thought better of you, Seth.

[@nsn5564]

@@cfbg You ever honest with yourself? Able to see someone else's point? Also, shutting up other viewpoints is fascist. Do better.

[@shoegal]

Did they edit the title? It's just meh

[@nsn5564]

@@shoegal Yeah, they did. It was "Ta-Nehisi Coates does not want to celebrate Biden's victory" or something to that effect. Giving the impression he was not happy that Biden won. The actual statement he made was that he wasn't big on going out in the streets and dancing, particularly with Covid, and he was not a shouty dancy kind of guy given to overt emotion. It's not that he was hoping Trump wins, or that he sees no difference in who won the election.

[@aisnota5192]

Reading up on his Captain America run and I'm HOOKED.

[@sargonsrobot2552]

Mills & Boon with a twilight one twist=wet.

[@TechnoKid79]

is it seth or setha?

[@gwhiz3098]

#TaNehisiCoatesIsToxic

[@nancychisholm5399]

The rantrumps continue. Tantrump: persons or person who throw a fit when things don't go their way or lose and make life as miserable around them as they can...thanks go to Keltie Sullivan for the word

[@Missgsussis]

Who are you talking about?

[@akashoreki2204]

I made a song on joe victory.. You can watch I'm Asian though😁😌

[@Missgsussis]

@Blass You also know that their was only supposed ‘voter fraud’ in the states that Trump lost. And it’s not that the democrats stop the republicans from seeking legal action.

[@nachfullbarertrank5230]

Good title edit btw

[@JimmyCallaway]

His run on Captain America is really good too!

[@nickr7703]

Smoking

[@justsaynototv8366]

I will totally disagree with him. You are a racist if you voted for a racist. PERIODT. Please look up the words: Representative and Representation.

[@mannyfreeesh5256]

Coats doesn't want racism to end; he'll nothing to write about.

[@trip3139]

"Red Skull Coates" lmaoooo

[@levonowens4084]

🙏🏾🙏🏾

[@SaffireTiger]

Sorry won't watch the movie or read the book. Trump lost, this is a huge win for the country, we just have to survive the next 65 days, 12 hours and 21 minutes

[@vinasel96]

Coleman is so much more respectable. Coates has just revealed his racist tendencies and racism is not cool.

[@lynnsims9533]

SETH OH SETH...DID YOU NOTICE THERE IS NOTHING ON THE NEWS ABOUT VETERANS DAY !!!!

[@jimreily7538]

Coates is a highly celebrated writer for sure, and while he's talented, I find his work to be a little overwrought. The praise and attention he's received is remarkable. But had he never attended Howard, had he not written for The Atlantic, and if he lived outside New York, working for a smaller publication, I don't think he'd be quite so lauded. The best writers, in my opinion, tell great stories and use language to enhance those stories. What I mean is, it's possible to write with great flourish, but detract from the story. The writers I most admire, do not impede or control a thin narrative with figurative language. Rather, they use such language to illuminate, to engage. Orwell is a great example, so is Vasily Grossman. Mark Twain is perhaps the best example of this sort of writer. He despised Walter Scott, for his linguistic embellishments. Even Victor Hugo, in Les Miserables, with all its digressions (or Melville in Moby Dick who includes entire chapters on the 19th century understanding of whales), never took thin narratives, or mundane moments, and decorated them so they'd seem more impactful. Nor did they make the language the focus, rather than the plot. Coates does that too frequently for my taste, whether deliberately or not. The London Review of Books was critical of Coates for that reason. They suggested that the ostensibly important moments in "Between the World and Me" were rather humdrum. That Coates had not extended enough understanding of other people, instead labelling their motives as racist too quickly. The pushy woman in one of the defining scenes of "Between the World and Me" may have been racist, or she may have been tired and cranky. She said nothing and did nothing overtly racist, but because she acted impolitely toward Coates' son, he writes the scene as if she were motivated by a sense of racial disgust. As though she were offended by the presence of black people. I don't mean to say he's not a good writer. He's a good writer, but I think the adulation he's received is far too great. I think he's been celebrated not as a craftsman, not because his writing is brilliant, but because of the current social climate, and what he writes about. I know he's seen by some as a latter Day James Baldwin but, I think that comparison grants Coates too much credit. As an essayist he is readable, but when compared, say, with Orwell's Collected Essays (the Penguin Essays), or Steve Biko's work, he comes up short. That's, of course, just my opinion, and I respect others, and for those who think Coates' high regard, particularly among New York literati is warranted, I can certainly appreciate why you'd feel that way. Perhaps it is just that I need to read more of his work.

[@M_SC]

I’ve read a good amount of Orwell and you should admit half of it is crap. one book’s entire purpose was not only to be sexist but to congratulate himself on how clever he was for saying sexism was truth. Yes there’s genius works too but there’s plenty of crap crap crap.

[@rashad123us]

🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

[@st2rl2]

Big lies

[@SuperTuffgirl]

There are two kind of people. Kind and unkind. Coates is the latter. Very unkind and uneducated.

[@firesign4297]

👏👏👏👍🏾👍🏾♥️

[@ceevee7825]

🤮🤮

[@Ubermensch9240]

How's his Captain America run?

[@Braktooth]

Really good.

[@Ubermensch9240]

@@Braktooth Really? I heard it's really Anti-American.

[@AZOffRoadster]

Can you imagine the turnout if Dems had nominated someone who DIDN'T suck?

[@lynnsims9533]

TRUMP PLEASE SIGN THE STIMULUS BILL.. TELL HIM. SETH

[@allenglass3461]

Coats is a racist. I can see why you had him on your show. Birds of a feather after all.

[@carterhaughbooks4333]

Well how gratifyingly condescending, that this guy Coates "gets it"- why more than half the population felt such a spontaneous sense of celebratory relief that the 4 years of stress were going to be over soon (sadly, the joy only for 2 days before the ugliness came rushing back in). But still, it's good to know that anyone of any ethnicity can aspire to become a pretentious poseur, needing to make sure we all know that HE is so much more insightful and sophisticated than the common hoi polloi.

[@Magpiecheek]

Lol 😂 you seem bothered

[@M_SC]

Well he kind of is. He’s vastly vastly more educated than 99.99999% of people

[@akashoreki2204]

I made a song on joe biden's victory.. You can watch.. I'm asian though 😁

[@chrisman714368]

What victory he did not win

[@AZOffRoadster]

QBert?

[@mekylieme]

This person is a complete Debbie Downer....."Waa, waaaa, wa." Perhaps his writing is more exciting than his ability to be disappointing. Bad choice in guests so soon after the election.

[@ayewhaddupdoe]

okay, white lady

[@robinsinpost]

Couldn't disagree more. This man was interesting and well spoken.

[@mikebutler1604]

You mis-spelled your name Karen

[@austinartman]

Black Panther was one of the worst films ever made and was nothing for anyone to be proud of in spite of the fact that it brought in a gazillion bucks. If I were black I would be embarrassed by it. Hell, I'm white and I'm embarrassed by it. I fell asleep during the movie.

[@richardarriaga6271]

Your lack of upvotes clearly shows you are wrong

[@jimreily7538]

I have to say it wasn't the greatest movie ever made. Coates is a highly celebrated writer for sure, but I find his work to be a little overwrought. The best writers, in my opinion, tell great stories and use language to enhance those stories. What I mean is, it's possible to write with great flourish, but detract from the story. The writers I most admire, do not impede or control a thin narrative with figurative language. Rather, they use such language to illuminate, to engage. Orwell is a great example, so is Vasily Grossman. Mark Twain is perhaps the best example of this sort of writer. He despised Walter Scott, for his linguistic embellishments. Even Victor Hugo, in Les Miserables, with all its digressions (or Melville in Moby Dick who includes entire chapters on the 19th century understanding of whales), never took a pretty thin narrative and decorated that, or made the language the focus, rather than the plot. Coates does that too frequently for my taste, whether deliberately or not. The London Review of Books was critical of Coates for that reason. They suggested that the important moments in "Between the World and Me" were rather mundane. I found that to be true as well, but, I don't mean to say he's not a good writer. He's an excellent writer, but I think he's been celebrated too highly - not because of his writing but because of the current social climate, and the type of content he focuses on. I know he's seen by some as a latter Day James Baldwin but, I think that comparison grants Coates too much credit. As an essayist he is readable, but when compared, say, with Orwell's Collected Essays (the Penguin Essays), he comes up short That's, of course, just my opinion, and I respect others, and for those who think Coates' high regard in the literati is warranted, I can certainly appreciate why you'd feel that way.

[@austinartman]

@@richardarriaga6271 I don't care if the whole world disagrees with me. The film sucked.

[@austinartman]

Why does this highly educated guy insist on speaking in Ebonics?

[@Magpiecheek]

Because AAVE isn’t a dialect of the uneducated, it’s a recognized language.

[@ms-pe2xb]

What are you talking about??

[@austinartman]

@@ms-pe2xb Can't understand plain English?????

[@ms-pe2xb]

@@austinartman Obviously you can't.

[@SuperKing604]

@@Magpiecheek still sounds dumb