Ta-Nehisi Coates, Bernie Sanders, and Reparations [View all]

[nyabingi]

I have found The Atlantic writer Ta-Nehisi Coates to be a good writer with a solid grasp of issues dealing with Black America and I haven't found too much of his content very disagreeable until I ran across this piece.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/01/bernie-sanders-reparations/424602/

He's actually attacking Bernie Sanders for saying he wouldn't be in favor of reparations! I couldn't believe the name of the piece so I actually had to read it again (and the article) to make sure I wasn't imagining this. Yep, he sure is. He's actually attacking Bernie Sanders for saying he's not in favor of reparations. Let me say that I'm not at all surprised that ANY presidential contender would say they are FOR reparations because it has long been a discussion that evokes strong passions on either side, and probably not a discussion that a serious contender would want to have during an election year. But why the focus of Bernie Sanders at this time and place?

I question Ta-Nehisi's motivations and objectives, especially considering the timing of his hit piece. The Democratic candidates are traveling across South Carolina right now trying to garner support from the Black population there, and Ta-Nehisi throws this at Bernie, apparently as food-for-thought to all the Black people who may be swayed away from supporting Hillary Clinton. Why not write a piece asking why Hillary Clinton does or doesn't support reparations, or Martin O'Malley? Who is TNC working for? If he is not a closeted surrogate for the Clinton campaign, then surely he is trying to put his best foot forward as a potential?

Ta-Nehisi, let's get real. You're not even going to get president Obama or hardly any Black person in a position of power to state publicly that they support reparations - there aren't many John Conyers types remaining in Washington. Many of them have sold their souls and passions to the lords of corporatism and job security. So why try to hold Bernie Sanders to this standard? It is a baffling attack and highly suspicious in my opinion. I don't think the majority of Black voters are basing their support for a candidate on whether or not they support reparations, so what's behind the attack? TNC doesn't really explain his motivation and we are left to guess.

Read through the article and I'm interested in hearing some opinions on this. For the record, I am and have always been strongly in favor of reparations, reparations that would necessarily include land and a great, if not complete, degree of autonomy as a starter.