Words by Ime Ekpo
Noted for his journalism surrounding mostly black culture, social issues and political matters along with his aristocratic book, Between The World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates sat down with late night talk show host Stephen Colbert to give his stance on the recent NFL protests, America’s future, and his new book, We Were Eight Years In Power: An American Tragedy.
The genial conversation between Coates and Colbert started on the topic of the recent NFL protests which Coates found to be successful. The decision made by President Donald Trump to respond to NFL players who kneel during the national anthem, a phenomenon innovated by former NFL player Colin Kaepernick, has forced the discussion of racial injustice and first amendment rights.
When asked by Colbert if he found the protesting to be “appropriate”, Coates briefly elaborated on the history of protesting by African Americans.
“No, it’s never appropriate. You see this from time to time and you saw it with Black Lives Matter.”
Coates went on to state why protests were historically approved by the people: “In the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King was really popular, civil rights organizations were extraordinarily popular and appropriate, and people approved of their protests.”
Ta-Nehisi Coates’ newest book, We Were Eight Years In Power: An American Tragedy refers to the era of Barack Obama’s presidency and builds into the of declined state of America post-Obama, The Trump era. The reality of Trump’s active use of the Twitter social network to dangerously conduct diplomacy is a blatant method for expressing the dissatisfaction right-wing conservatives had regarding Obama’s presidency.
“The very situation that we find ourself in would not be possible without the reaction to the first Black president.”
