"Menaces of Nature" ?
In Ta-Nehisi Coates’ book, “Between the World and Me” (2015); he describes his 9/11 story:
Coates wrote, “I suppose everyone who was in New York that day has a story. Here’s mine. I stood on the roof of an apartment building…taking in the sight—great plumes of smoke covered Manhattan Island. Everyone knew someone who knew someone who was missing. But looking out upon the ruins of America, my heart was cold…The officer who killed Prince Jones (a college classmate of Coates that was killed by a black police officer), like all the officers who regard us so warily, was the sword of the American citizenry…I was out of sync with the city. I kept thinking about how southern Manhattan had always been Ground Zero for us. They auctioned our bodies down there, in that same devastated, and rightly named, financial district…Bin Laden was not the first man to bring terror to that section of the city. I never forgot that. Neither should you. In the days after, I watched the ridiculous pageantry of flags, the machismo of firemen, the overwrought slogans. Damn it all. Prince Jones was dead. And hell upon those who tell us to be twice as good and shoot us no matter…
I could see no difference between the officers who killed Prince Jones and the police who died, or the firefighters who died. They were not human to me. Black, White, or whatever, they were the menaces of nature; they were the fire, the comet, the storm, which could — with no justification—shatter my body.”
Again, His passage about 9/11 is a good summation of where he’s coming from. He writes of the police and firefighters who died running into the burning buildings in a forlorn effort to save all the people whose bodies were about to be obliterated into dust, “They were not human to me. Black, white, or whatever, they were menaces of nature; they were the fire, the comet, the storm, which could — with no justification — shatter my body.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/17/opinion/listening-to-ta-nehisi-coates-while-white.html
My comments: almost no one complains - and many praise his words.
WHY NOT? WHY?
Some 9/11 first responders WERE minorities; does Coates claim that they were menaces?
Illegal and unnecessary violence against minorities by [especially NYC PD] is NOT being 'excused' - but neither should it be used as an excuse to justify when those men died on 9/11.
The policeman who shot Prince Jones WAS black; so Ta-Nehisi must believe the policeman's "crime" [oppressing blacks, while being black] was caused by the oppressive system that hired him to enforce the "rich get richer" status quo, right?
First responders include fire fighters and paramedics; neither kill people. So Coates is upset about these guys too - and this earns him praise - and a Macarthur Award?
Speaking of why 9/11 happened...
Please note that some ‘conservatives’ say that America caused 9/11, not Osama Bin Laden:
Meet The Press - NBC-TV Show, Feb 22, 2005 (over 2 years AFTER 9/11 !)
Former GOP President Nixon Cabinet Official Pat Buchanan said interventionism causes terrorism:
MR. BUCHANAN:?In my judgment, what happened on 9/11 was a result of [USA] interventionism. Interventionism is the cause of terror.?It is not a cure for terror.
BUT this does NOT 'excuse' Coates complaints. The 9/11 first responders were NOT responsible for America's interventionist foreign policy.
BUT Coates fails to complain about America's continuing imperial hubris.
Again, almost no one complains - and many praise his words.
WHY NOT? WHY?
Does Mr. Coates complain about the stock traders at Cantor Fitzgerald - who help keep the poor poor; the rich rich; and America in control of the world (which did partly caused the 9/11 attack) ?
i guess not; maybe he can't question unregulated capitalism as our 'god'?
How about hospital workers - Since he hates ambulance drivers, why not include Medical Doctors at hospitals too?
Probably never thought about that one
After Losing 658 Employees on 9/11, Cantor Fitzgerald Maintains Commitment to Help Victims' Families - 9/10/2016 = 15th anniversary of 9/11
https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/wtc/2016/09/10/after-losing-more-than-600-employees-on-9-11--cantor-fitzgerald-maintains-commitment-to-help-victims--families
The Toxic World-View of Ta-Nehisi Coates
By Rich Lowry?on July 22, 2015
His monstrous passage about 9/11 is a good summation of where he’s coming from. He writes of the police and firefighters who died running into the burning buildings in a forlorn effort to save all the people whose bodies were about to be obliterated into dust, “They were not human to me. Black, white, or whatever, they were menaces of nature; they were the fire, the comet, the storm, which could — with no justification — shatter my body.”
Really? Firefighters go about shattering the bodies of black people without justification? One doesn’t read about, say, Anthony Rodriguez, 36, father of six, whose last child was born days after he died in the attack, who joined the Navy before becoming a firefighter, who coached youth basketball, and naturally think of the depredations of white America...
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/the-toxic-world-view-of-ta-nehisi-coates-120512/
领英推荐
The Hard Truths of Ta-Nehisi Coates by Benjamin Wallace-Wells on July 12, 2015
"Her son was killed, and the police officer who shot him, a black man himself, was allowed to return to the force. Jones’s death so alienated Coates that when he watched 9/11, slightly stoned, on the roof of his Brooklyn building, he recalls that he felt nothing at all. “You must always remember,” Coates writes to Samori, “that the sociology, the history, the economics, the graphs, the charts, the regressions all land, with great violence, upon the body.”
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2015/07/ta-nehisi-coates-between-the-world-and-me.html
Again, our Government recruited, hired, trained and financed Osama bin Laden:
Bin Laden comes home to roost
Michael Moran looks at U.S. ties to Osama bin Laden, trained and funded by the CIA to wreak havoc on the Soviet Army and now turning his talents on Americans.
https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3340101
Osama Bin Laden: How the U.S. helped midwife a terrorist
https://publicintegrity.org/accountability/osama-bin-laden-how-the-u-s-helped-midwife-a-terrorist/
Since Mr. Coates blamed - and should still blame - the armed policemen who impose an admittedly unjust system within America, he should also blame our covert and overt military - funded by the industrial congressional complex - that do the same thing to oppress people like him overseas... He's a MacArthur "genius", so adding two and two should be easy for him.
Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 (posted on February 24, 2004; 9/11 + 2 years)
Author Steve Coll, managing editor of The Washington Post, discusses the findings of his latest book on the CIA's involvement in the covert wars in Afghanistan that fueled Islamic militancy and gave rise to bin Laden's al Qaeda. To view the video feed of the discussion, please click on the "Event Summary" link below.
Again, I'm NOT saying that Mr. Coates anger itself was - is - not justified, i only ask why he's not also mad at the people and system that indirectly cause the 9/11 attacks.
Ta-Nehisi Coates; Journalist |?Class of 2015 MacArthur Award Winner:
[Incorrectly] Interpreting complex and challenging issues around race and racism through the lens of personal experience and [not very] nuanced historical analysis.
https://www.macfound.org/fellows/class-of-2015/ta-nehisi-coates
Journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates Among 2015 MacArthur 'Genius' Award Winners
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/29/444221706/journalist-ta-nehisi-coates-among-2015-macarthur-genius-award-winners
I point out that, while 9/11 DID happen, the real, full story is NOT what we've been told.
Failing to look at the backstory of 9/11, did Mr. Coates work to uncover the truth about what happened on that day itself ? I guess not.
Here are some people and groups who are working to uncover and disclose the truth:
Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth; Washington Journal - August 1, 2014
Richard Gage?talked about his group, Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth, which claimed that the?World Trade Center?was brought down by explosive demolition on September 11, 2001. The group was founded in 2006 and said its mission was to “expose the official lies and cover-up surrounding the events of September 11, 2001 in a way that inspires the people to overcome denial and understand the truth.”?
https://www.c-span.org/video/?320748-5/washington-journal-architects-engineers-911-truth
Countering NIST’s dangerous legal arguments — and preposterous technical arguments
This week on?9/11 Free Fall, attorney Mick Harrison and AE911Truth Director of Strategy Ted Walter join host Andy Steele to discuss the latest developments in AE911Truth’s lawsuit against NIST regarding its report on Building 7...
https://www.ae911truth.org/news/839
UK filmmaker Alan Golding on making ‘The Unspeakable’
by AE911Truth?- posted on April 23, 2022
This week on?9/11 Free Fall, filmmaker Alan Golding joins host Andy Steele to talk about his inspiring experience working on?The Unspeakable?— where as producer of the film’s UK unit he got to help the family of 9/11 victim Geoff Campbell tell their story — and about his reasons for being part of the 9/11 Truth Movement.
https://www.ae911truth.org/news/840-uk-filmmaker-alan-golding-on-making-the-unspeakable
My 'take' on documenting 9/11:
9.11.2001; ‘Al Ourush al-Kabir’ (The Big Wedding) - Published on September 10, 2016
A proposed movie about 9/11/2001 titled “Al Ourush al-Kabir” (The Big Wedding)