MSNBC’s Touré Chalks Up Holocaust Survival to ‘The Power of Whiteness’
Earlier this week, MSNBC’s Touré drew some strong reactions on Twitter by advocating that his followers read an in-depth piece in The Atlantic by Ta-Nehisi Coates that makes “The Case for Reparations.” In the essay, Coates explains why he once opposed the paying of reparations to African-Americans for slavery, but has “evolved” his thinking.
Touré tweeted:
You gotta read Ta-Nehisi Coates’s Atlantic essay about the case for reparations. Very well researched and argued. Powerful piece.
— Touré (@Toure) May 22, 2014
The question of whether reparations will happen is entirely separate from whether they should happen. And one does not answer the other.
— Touré (@Toure) May 22, 2014
One Twitter user, who blogs on the website datsracis.com, began responding to Touré:
@Toure Will the 50% of black Americans whose families were slave *traders* be expected to pay these supposed reparations?? Just wonderin'
— Dat's Racis' (.com) (@hope_and_chains) May 23, 2014
@Toure How much do I owe for what Dems did in the first half of the century, while my family was in Eurppe running from Nazis, or in Dachau?
— Dat's Racis' (.com) (@hope_and_chains) May 23, 2014
@Toure My family survived a concentration camp, came to the US w/ nothing, LEGALLY, and made it work. #SORRYFORBEINGWHITETHOUGHYOUGUYS
— Dat's Racis' (.com) (@hope_and_chains) May 23, 2014
At this point, Touré decided to respond:
The power of whiteness: RT @hope_and_chains: My family survived a concentration camp, came to the US w/ nothing, LEGALLY, and made it work.
— Touré (@Toure) May 23, 2014
Unsurprisingly, this only seemed to inflame the user more:
@Toure I make no apologies for my family persevering and becoming successful with absolutely zero help, nor handout.
— Dat's Racis' (.com) (@hope_and_chains) May 23, 2014
@Toure Handouts, which today do nothing more than bury the lower class in a world of eternal dependence upon the State.
— Dat's Racis' (.com) (@hope_and_chains) May 23, 2014
@Toure A dependence that u only pretend 2 be against the govtt fostering, for u know that w/o it,u can no longer whine abt nonexistent stuff
— Dat's Racis' (.com) (@hope_and_chains) May 23, 2014
@Toure As a veteran, I have witnessed, and loved seeing, people working 2gether and appreciating each other for their characters…
— Dat's Racis' (.com) (@hope_and_chains) May 23, 2014
@Toure …for their skills, for their work ethic, and not the color of their skin. I pray that someday u may be able to do the same.
— Dat's Racis' (.com) (@hope_and_chains) May 23, 2014
@Toure But hey, I know you've got a show to do. A show that you'd totally still have if you were a white guy from the burbs, or something.
— Dat's Racis' (.com) (@hope_and_chains) May 23, 2014
Seems my family's path from war-torn Europe 2 success in the US has been chalked up as "the power of whiteness" by @Toure + crew #seemslegit
— Dat's Racis' (.com) (@hope_and_chains) May 24, 2014
Touré has apparently resisted the urge to engage with the user further, but since his initial comment he has been receiving a barrage of angry tweets, complete with horrifying imagery from the Holocaust. In the end, this is just one more reason why it’s often best to keep some thoughts to yourself.
[Photo via MSNBC]
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