Ta-Nehisi Coates: Race Measured Different

Posted by admin on Friday, December 23, 2016

Ta-Nehisi Coates Money Quote saying racists measure a man differently depending on his race and hold whites to lower standards than those required of other races. So Trump was elected. Ta-Nehisi Coates said:
 

 

“How racism works. To be president, [Obama] had to be scholarly, intelligent, president of the Harvard Law Review, the product of some of our greatest educational institutions, capable of talking to two different worlds … Donald Trump had to be rich and white. That was it. That’s the difference” — Ta-Nehisi Coates

 

 

In this quote, Ta-Nehisi Coates seems to be drawing a comparison between the qualifications and attributes needed for Barack Obama versus Donald Trump to become president. Specifically:

• Coates notes that for Obama to be elected as the first Black president, he had to have extremely impressive academic and professional credentials like being scholarly, intelligent, and president of the Harvard Law Review.
• In contrast, Coates argues that for Trump, being rich and white was seemingly sufficient on its own according to the standards of racism in America.
• He implies that Trump did not need to have the same level of qualifications or ability to connect with different groups that Obama demonstrated.

Overall, the quote conveys Coates’ view that racism in the US political system sets a double standard, requiring far more competence and qualifications from non-white candidates compared to wealthy white candidates.

Categories: fairness Tagged:richta-nehisi coates