The very thoughtful Thomas Chatterton Williams, who I quoted in yesterday’s post about Ta-Nehisi Coates, has his own response to Coates’ Atlantic essay in The American Scholar. It’s worth reading the whole, relatively short, article. But two passages stand out:
Coates “claims for himself, here and elsewhere, a Mullah-like authority to assert communal possession of other people he deems to be a part of his community.”
“More chilling than the essay has been the rapturous response it has generated among many white liberals who seem somehow too eager to reinforce its dire racial proscriptions. It is undeniable that West has gotten an astonishing amount wrong, but one thing he gets just right is this: Too many people of all persuasions act as though there are views, based on one’s perceived identity alone, that others must share. No matter what else might be said, that is an extraordinarily warped view of freedom.”