Author and essayist Ta-Nehisi Coates has a brief history lesson for Congress.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday told reporters he didn't support reparations for descendants of former slaves, saying that "none of us currently living" are responsible for it. So in a Wednesday hearing in front of a House panel on the reparations bill HR 40, Coates provided some examples of slavery's repercussions that "extended well into the lifetime" of McConnell.
When slavery was outlawed in the U.S. more than 150 years ago, "this country could have extended its hallowed principles — life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness — to all, regardless of color," Coates said Wednesday. But instead, "black people were subjected to a relentless campaign of terror" well into the mid-1900s, Coates continued. This included "the electrocution of George Stinney," a 14-year-old boy convicted in 10 minutes of murdering two white girls and exonerated 70 years after his execution, and "the blinding of Isaac Woodard," a World War II veteran beaten by police just hours after being honorably discharged.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Coates' full testimony is published at The Atlantic.
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-warTalking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Sudoku medium: September 14, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
ABC News to pay $15M in Trump defamation suitSpeed Read The lawsuit stemmed from George Stephanopoulos' on-air assertion that Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments lawSpeed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security lawSpeed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitutionspeed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidenceSpeed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulationsSpeed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriageSpeed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
