Ta-Nehisi Coates & Jon Stewart: Understanding the Humiliation of Oppression
I got a lot out of this interview with The Message author Ta-Nehisi Coates by Jon Stewart for The Daily Show.
Best-selling author Ta-Nehisi Coates sits down with Jon Stewart to talk about his latest book, “The Message,” and reconciling past and present vestiges of oppression. They discuss his visits to Senegal, South Carolina, and The West Bank, how past atrocities like slavery and the holocaust can create a zero-sum game of control, the need for safety and statehood despite morally problematic systems, his exposure to Palestinian stories that have been hidden in American media, understanding the physical traumas of the Black community, and the purpose in writing to shape the world around us.
See also his interview with Chris Hayes on MSNBC:
And with Terry Gross on Fresh Air.
Discussion 4 comments
Also, in contrast to these good interviews, watch this CBS Mornings interview where Tony Dokoupil attempts to railroad Coates while casually laying some fairly antisemitic claims at his feet.
Dokoupil was "rebuked" by CBS News execs for his handling of the interview.
I read through the comments on that article (because I'm a glutton for misery) and I'm a bit surprised so many people think Dokoupil conducted himself well.
Maybe it's just because this is such a thorny topic, but I can't imagine Dokoupil telling the author of a book on feminism that their writing wouldn't be out of place in an extremist's backpack or trying to argue, in bad faith, that they didn't support the right of men to exist.
For instance, “What is it that so particularly offends you about the existence of a Jewish state that is a Jewish safe place?” is a just a textbook loaded question that you'd expect from someone like Hannity or Carlson. That's just not good journalism, and it's strange to me that so many people seem to think it was.
I guess I'll be alone here in positing an opposing view. I find Coates' proudly uninformed ('I spent 10 days in Palestine being taken around by activists and from that I learned everything one needs to know'), "everything is black and white, simple", comically one-sided historical storytelling on the conflict in the Middle East fairly offensive and very much anti-Semitic. Mostly I can't believe all my friends just go right along with it. Since it sounds like many of you found Dokoupil's questions troubling (which I did), then I can only imagine what you'll think of an actual take-down on Coates’ book like this one by Coleman Hughes, but as a liberal, I've always been a fan of listening to people with different perspectives and considering all sides of issues, so maybe some people who read this will too.
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