QuoteProject
The lives of African-Americans in this country are characterized by violence for most of our history. Much of that violence, at least to some extent, you know, done by the very state that's supposed to protect them.
Ta-Nehisi Coates
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote highlights the historical violence faced by African-Americans, particularly from the state institutions meant to provide safety.

Ta-Nehisi Coates underscores the tragic irony in the experience of African-Americans, where violence has been a pervasive aspect of their history, often perpetuated by the very governmental structures that are designed to ensure their protection and well-being. This duality reflects a deep-seated issue within society, revealing the complexities of trust and safety in the context of systemic oppression.

Themes

ViolenceAfrican-AmericansHistoryOppressionStateProtection

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about systemic racism, this quote could be used to emphasize the historical context of violence against African-Americans.

More from Ta-Nehisi Coates

There's a kind of optimism specifically within Christianity about the world - about whose side God is on. Well, I didn't have any of that in my background. I had physicality and chaos.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead
We've got in the habit of not really understanding how freedom was in the 19th century, the idea of government of the people in the 19th century. America commits itself to that in theory.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead
I never expected my writing to become as popular as it did.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead
It's hard for me to view Baltimore outside the context of what Baltimore has always been in my mind: a violent place.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead
If I could have anything - you know, and this is across the board for any presidential candidate - I would have a greater acknowledgment of history in our policy and in our affairs.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead
You can't make a direct comparison between middle-class African Americans and middle-class white Americans, affluent African Americans and affluent white Americans. The amount of wealth tends to be less.
Ta-Nehisi CoatesRead

Similar quotes

The Negro has been here in America since 1619, a total of 344 years. He is not going anywhere else; this country is his home. He wants to do his part to help make his city, state, and nation a better place for everyone, regardless of color and race.
Medgar EversRead
No matter what the world thinks about religious experience, the one who has it possesses a great treasure, a thing that has become for him a source of life, meaning, and beauty, and that has given a new splendor to the world and to mankind.
Carl JungRead
I many no longer depend on pleasant impulses to bring me before the Lord. I must rather response to principles I know to be right, whether I feel them to be enjoyable or not.
Jim ElliotRead
God is Love, we are taught as children to believe. But when we first begin to get some inkling of how He loves us, we are repelled; it seems so cold, indeed, not love at all as we understand the word.
W. H. AudenRead
Though I love my country, I do not love my countrymen.
Lord ByronRead
We need God, not in order to understand the why, but in order to feel and sustain the ultimate wherefore, to give a meaning to the universe.
Miguel De UnamunoRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.