Ta-Nehisi Coates Quotes
I have never read 'To Kill A Mockingbird.'
Coates, Ta-Nehisi. "Why I Have Never Read To Kill a Mockingbird." The Atlantic, 12 Jul. 2013.
One reason that this is such a noteworthy quote is that Rubio was in the midst of his campaign for the Republican Presidential Nomination where only the most dedicated and generally conservative members of the party turn out to vote in the primaries. And a very large part of them were Southern racists who switched parties in response to the Civil Rights Act passage in 1964. Since then the very conservative wing of the party has had a de facto veto on Republican presidential candidates. Rubio's statement was the view of the majority of Americans and a significant number of Republicans, but this courageous statement of his true belief's risked his chances in the primary.
Amazing as it is to most Americans today, the first time there was an interracial kiss depicted on television was on the Science Fiction TV Show Star Trek in the late 1960s. Although the public reaction was not as hostile as the television executives and politicians of the time feared, there were organized boycotts of NBC and many death threats to the actors, writers, producers and executives.
At the time none of the comic book superhero plots, like most popular entertainment and culture, ignored the existence of African Americans.
Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates is an American author and journalist. Coates gained a wide readership during his time as national correspondent at The Atlantic, where he wrote about cultural, social, and political issues, particularly regarding African Americans and white supremacy. Coates has worked for The Village Voice, Washington City Paper, and TIME. He has contributed to The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, The Washington Monthly, O, and other publications.
