Ta-Nehisi Coates is reminded of his difficult past whenever he sees his son’s ambitions and dreams. That past is linked to the disenfranchisement of African-Americans that is deeply ingrained in American history, he said at a lecture Thursday night at the Walter Cronkite School.
The event, organized by the ASU’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy, was part of the Visionary Lecture Series and filled the Cronkite School’s First Amendment Forum with attendees. Much of the lecture focused on slavery’s place in American history and the idea of plunder.
Coates, a senior editor for The Atlantic, said slavery and racism were foundational in the formation of America and that understanding that was necessary to approaching future conversations about race.
“The fact of the matter is that the grand experiment was made possible by slavery and empowered by racism,” Coates said. “Racism is not some side thing over here. Slavery is not some side thing over here. That’s what you have to get.”
According to Coates, slavery and racism were formed around the idea of plunder.
“The main feature of racism in this country is the plundering of black people and giving it to white people,” Coates said. “Slavery isn’t just the right of me to whip you. It’s the right of me to use your body in any way that benefits me.”
Coates said that because African-Americans were excluded from voting, they lacked a voice for how their tax money was used.
“This is about the distribution of funds,” Coates said. “So if I don’t have representation, even if I am in the majority in my state, you can take my tax dollars and you can build universities that I cannot attend. You can maintain pools that you will not let me swim in. This is robbery. This is the taking of my money to improve you.”
Coates said that plunder is still a core element of racism today. He gave examples of how African-Americans have been affected by exclusion from social programs like Social Security and Medicaid.
“This hasn’t died, by the way,” Coates said. “What makes me crazy is that after the Supreme Court ruling made Medicaid expansion optional, if you look at the demographics of the people who will go uncovered by that Medicaid expansion, you will find a majority of black American people.”
Ivana Braga, a Humphrey Fellow visiting ASU from Brazil, said that she found parallels between American and Brazilian experiences in Coates’ lecture.
“It was helpful to see how African-American history had similarities to Brazilian-African history,” Braga said. “The inequality of opportunity is inside the society but hidden at the same time. So, you see the inequality but you take it as a common thing.”
Phoenix resident Julian Davis said that he enjoyed the lecture.
“I thought it was good,” Davis said. “I really took in a lot of what he was talking about. All his points kind of drew me in and I thought it was really relevant with what’s going on today and the kind of problems we’re still seeing in the world.”
Following the lecture, Coates was available to sign copies of his book, “The Beautiful Struggle,” which was available for purchase at the event.
Contact the reporter at travis.arbon@asu.edu
