We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy
In this "urgently relevant"* collection featuring the landmark essay "The Case for Reparations," the National Book Award-winning author of Between the World and Me "reflects on race, Barack Obama's presidency and its jarring aftermath"*--including the election of Donald Trump. New York Times Bestseller - Finalist for the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize Named One of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times - USA Today - Time - Los Angeles Times - San Francisco Chronicle - Essence - O: The Oprah Magazine - The Week - Kirkus Reviews *Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"We were eight years in power" was the lament of Reconstruction-era black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. In this sweeping collection of new and selected essays, Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the tragic echoes of that history in our own time: the unprecedented election of a black president followed by a vicious backlash that fueled the election of the man Coates argues is America's "first white president." But the story of these present-day eight years is not just about presidential politics. This book also examines the new voices, ideas, and movements for justice that emerged over this period--and the effects of the persistent, haunting shadow of our nation's old and unreconciled history. Coates powerfully examines the events of the Obama era from his intimate and revealing perspective--the point of view of a young writer who begins the journey in an unemployment office in Harlem and ends it in the Oval Office, interviewing a president. We Were Eight Years in Power features Coates's iconic essays first published in The Atlantic, including "Fear of a Black President," "The Case for Reparations," and "The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration," along with eight fresh essays that revisit each year of the Obama administration through Coates's own experiences, observations, and intellectual development, capped by a bracingly original assessment of the election that fully illuminated the tragedy of the Obama era. We Were Eight Years in Power is a vital account of modern America, from one of the definitive voices of this historic moment.
"We were eight years in power" was the lament of Reconstruction-era black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. In this sweeping collection of new and selected essays, Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the tragic echoes of that history in our own time: the unprecedented election of a black president followed by a vicious backlash that fueled the election of the man Coates argues is America's "first white president." But the story of these present-day eight years is not just about presidential politics. This book also examines the new voices, ideas, and movements for justice that emerged over this period--and the effects of the persistent, haunting shadow of our nation's old and unreconciled history. Coates powerfully examines the events of the Obama era from his intimate and revealing perspective--the point of view of a young writer who begins the journey in an unemployment office in Harlem and ends it in the Oval Office, interviewing a president. We Were Eight Years in Power features Coates's iconic essays first published in The Atlantic, including "Fear of a Black President," "The Case for Reparations," and "The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration," along with eight fresh essays that revisit each year of the Obama administration through Coates's own experiences, observations, and intellectual development, capped by a bracingly original assessment of the election that fully illuminated the tragedy of the Obama era. We Were Eight Years in Power is a vital account of modern America, from one of the definitive voices of this historic moment.
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Community Reviews
What a book. This is a compilation of essays that author Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote throughout the course of Obama's presidency. That in itself is enough to get me interested in reading it, but all the essays deal with race and identity politics more than necessarily Obama's presidency, yet they are all connected, either overtly or subtly. I enjoyed watching the progression of Coates as a writer and as a human and I very much appreciated the introduction he gave to each essay. It was a nicely personal moment, often where he would recognize a problem with his thought process, explain how his thoughts have changed or not changed, or address an issue that I might not have picked up on otherwise. It was beautifully self-reflective and I appreciated that.
I also appreciated the content of each of the essays. Each was interesting and important in its own way, though I think I liked the last three the best. One of the things that I appreciate about Coates is his ability to elegantly and boldly identify and explicate problems and issues, and engage with them in a way that helps give me an understanding of and a vocabulary to discuss them. Some of his ideas I was familiar with (the essay on mass-incarceration is a topic I feel reasonably well-informed on) but his impeccable and varied research really put more nuance and validity into it than any off-the-cuff argument I could ever make, regardless of how many books I read. This was particularly true of Between the World and Me and I also highly encourage reading that one.
I also appreciate Ta-Nehisi Coates because he is not writing for me. It is good for me to read things that are not written to assuage my white guilt or to placate me or to make me feel comfortable. It is important that I read things that may make me uncomfortable or SHOULD make me feel uncomfortable. The whole epilogue on Donald Trump made me sick to my stomach, physically. But so did the section on mass incarceration and any section on lynching. Coates also is writing from a perspective so totally different from mine and is blunt about where he comes from and how that has shaped how he feels. He is straightforward about how he sees the eight years of Obama's presidency as his subtitle: An American Tragedy. He is clear about how little hope he has and how he consistently had less optimism than Barack Obama because his upbringing and life experiences have been so different from someone like that of Barack Obama. No one is coming to save us. What does "being saved" mean, anyhow? I don't think the book is completely lacking in optimism or hope, but I think that he points out very clearly that our hope must come from a quarter that is not being addressed currently. He makes the case that the election of Donald Trump is, in its vast majority, a racial issue based on white supremacy and white fear. But that by ignoring that fact, by apologizing for our white kin that we think are still ultimately good people, by putting the stress on economic issues (and ignoring how the black and latino working classes still didn't vote for Trump, making this a what? Oh, a race issue) we are ignoring the way to move forward. We need to look our issues directly in their face and recognize them for what they are: that race continues to deeply divide this country because of its history of whites exploiting and committing violence against black people (and other people of color) and that racism is not gone and we, especially us white people, must look it in the face in order to fight it.
I also appreciated the content of each of the essays. Each was interesting and important in its own way, though I think I liked the last three the best. One of the things that I appreciate about Coates is his ability to elegantly and boldly identify and explicate problems and issues, and engage with them in a way that helps give me an understanding of and a vocabulary to discuss them. Some of his ideas I was familiar with (the essay on mass-incarceration is a topic I feel reasonably well-informed on) but his impeccable and varied research really put more nuance and validity into it than any off-the-cuff argument I could ever make, regardless of how many books I read. This was particularly true of Between the World and Me and I also highly encourage reading that one.
I also appreciate Ta-Nehisi Coates because he is not writing for me. It is good for me to read things that are not written to assuage my white guilt or to placate me or to make me feel comfortable. It is important that I read things that may make me uncomfortable or SHOULD make me feel uncomfortable. The whole epilogue on Donald Trump made me sick to my stomach, physically. But so did the section on mass incarceration and any section on lynching. Coates also is writing from a perspective so totally different from mine and is blunt about where he comes from and how that has shaped how he feels. He is straightforward about how he sees the eight years of Obama's presidency as his subtitle: An American Tragedy. He is clear about how little hope he has and how he consistently had less optimism than Barack Obama because his upbringing and life experiences have been so different from someone like that of Barack Obama. No one is coming to save us. What does "being saved" mean, anyhow? I don't think the book is completely lacking in optimism or hope, but I think that he points out very clearly that our hope must come from a quarter that is not being addressed currently. He makes the case that the election of Donald Trump is, in its vast majority, a racial issue based on white supremacy and white fear. But that by ignoring that fact, by apologizing for our white kin that we think are still ultimately good people, by putting the stress on economic issues (and ignoring how the black and latino working classes still didn't vote for Trump, making this a what? Oh, a race issue) we are ignoring the way to move forward. We need to look our issues directly in their face and recognize them for what they are: that race continues to deeply divide this country because of its history of whites exploiting and committing violence against black people (and other people of color) and that racism is not gone and we, especially us white people, must look it in the face in order to fight it.
This book is a collection of 8 previously published essays by Coates. I found the essay about Bill Cosby’s negative activism and the essay about Michelle Obama underwhelming and I wish they weren’t included in the book, or at least not at the beginning of the book. However, the other 6 essays are so phenomenal that even though I’d read some before I found myself wanting to scream in agreement. Possibly the 2017 context of these essays makes them even more powerful- or rather 2017 makes me more open to how correct and powerful the essays have always been.
Brilliant. I listened to it as an audiobook and I promptly went out and bought a copy. I’ll need to listen / read it again to fully appreciate the powerful language and insight. It packs a punch. It’s an unforgiving commentary on how we have got here, the highs and the lows of the Obama presidency and what we need to recognise and grapple with to really find a way forward to heal the chasm between black and white america.
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