jbrotherlove

I’ve been fairly quiet about the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. and the backlash Obama has gotten from sharing his opinion. It’s not for lack of an opinion. I just get weary talking about race (I’ve only been doing it my entire life).

While hopping around the interwebs I happened upon this nugget by the ever-quotable Ta-Nehisi Coates:

When we think about the cops, it’s scary, on one level, to conclude that a cop can basically arrest you on a whim. It’s scarier still to think that this is what Americans want, that this country is as we’ve made it. And then finally it’s even scarier to understand that no president can change that. It’s not why he’s there. He is there to pass health-reform–not make us post-racist, or post-police power, or post-whatever. Only the people can do that. And they don’t seem particularly inclined. Here is what the election of Barack Obama says about race–white people, in general, are willing to hire a black guy for the ultimate job. That’s a big step. But it isn’t any more than what it says.

Yeah, that should give you an inkling of where I am on the issue.