democracynow | AMY GOODMAN: That was Bernie Sanders speaking at the Black and Brown
Forum in Iowa in January. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
also said at the forum she didn’t support reparations for slavery.
Following the forum, Ta-Nehisi Coates challenged Sanders’ position in
an article for The Atlantic entitled "Why Precisely Is Bernie Sanders
Against Reparations?" In the piece, he wrote, quote, "Unfortunately,
Sanders’s radicalism has failed in the ancient fight against white
supremacy. ... This is the 'class first' approach, originating in the
myth that racism and socialism are necessarily incompatible," end-quote.
The piece has sparked both praise and controversy from across the
political spectrum. In one response, University of Illinois professor
Cedric Johnson wrote in a piece for Jacobin magazine, quote, "Coates’s
latest attack on Sanders, and willingness to join the chorus of
red-baiters, has convinced me that his particular brand of antiracism
does more political harm than good, further mystifying the actual
forces at play and the real battle lines that divide our world,"
end-quote.
This comes as both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders’ campaigns shift
attention away from New Hampshire toward South Carolina, where black
voters could decide the primary.
Well, to discuss the 2016 presidential campaign and the case for
reparations, we are joined by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the national
correspondent for The Atlantic, where he writes about culture, politics
and social issues. He’s the author of Between the World and Me, which
is a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award. He won the 2014
George Polk Award for his Atlantic cover story, "The Case for
Reparations."
It’s great to have you back, Ta-Nehisi.
TA-NEHISI COATES: Thanks for having me back, Amy.
