Ta-Nehisi Coates Reflects on Obama

What role did race play in his presidency and his path to it? Was Obama a black president, or a president who happened to be black?

Caption: President Barack Obama and Ta-Nehisi Coates at the White House

What role did race play in his presidency and his path to it? Was Obama a black president, or a president who happened to be black? You might hear people complain that Obama wasn’t really black — or that his experience wasn’t representative of the black experience. Is there something to this comment, or are there insidious racial stereotypes couched in it? And perhaps the timeliest question of all: What did Obama and his race have to do with the rise of Trump? Could it be that part of what white Trump voters were angry about in this election was the fact that we have a black president.

Ta-Nehisi meditates on these questions through an intensely personal lens in this masterful piece. It’s a long one, but I highly recommend it!

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