Essays regarding the Obama years. Extremely informative and enlightening.

I welcomed reading this book because of the conversations I was able to have with others (and myself) about the past eight years. Issues of race, power and privilege are being discussed more openly in the public forum and this book provides a strong addition to that discussion.

Ta-Nehisi Coates just does not disappoint. All of the essays in this collection were new to me, but what I appreciated even more than the essays themselves (which were fantastic, obviously) was the introduction to each that were written in hindsight, knowing that Trump had been elected President and America was on the brink of monumental change. This easily made my list of best books of 2017, and should be required reading. There's nothing else I can really say about it - it was astounding and thought-provoking.

A great collection of writing from Coates in a time when it is much needed. Very informative, engaging, important, and powerful.

I came to this book via multiple odd routes. I heard the author speak a couple of years ago, because my husband really likes his writing. While it doesn’t resonate with me quite the same way, when it does, it really, really does. Coates’ comment at the beginning of Between the World and Me regarding the social construction of whiteness in America, and how that social construct can be withheld, conferred and taken away as conditions change, spoke directly to me and my own experience as a Jew growing up in America. I was not white when I was a child. I have been through most of my adulthood. But if the neo-Nazis chanting at that Unite the Right rally last year in Charlottesville have anything to say about it, I will not be again in the future.

I was also interested in the historical resonance. I recently completed the extremely well-written (and incredibly massive) biography of Ulysses S. Grant by Ron Chernow. The historical “eight years in power” that Coates refers to in the title of the book largely overlap the years of Grant’s administration. Grant attempted to guarantee civil rights for the newly freed slaves in the South, and broke the 19th century incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan. But the resulting backlash of white supremacy swept away his achievements, and those rights that were held most dear and paid for in blood.

That the backlash in the 19th century looks all too much like the backlash after Barack Obama’s election and administration in the 21st is all too poignant. And frightening in the intensity of its fear and hate, and in the depths of its depravity and its denial that there is anything wrong that still needs to be addressed.

America was founded on and prospered because of two original sins. One was the theft of the land itself from the Native Americans who already lived here, and the generations upon generations of continuing theft, pillage, murder and suppression, all sanctioned by law.

The second original sin is chattel slavery, the kidnapping of people in Africa, their shipment to the U.S., and their continued bondage, exploitation, theft, pillage, murder and suppression, all sanctioned by law. The wealth and prosperity of this country was founded on slavery, and the suppression of the descendants of that crime continue to this day. And tomorrow.

If the arc of history does bend towards justice, it seems to operate on a geologic scale of time. What feels more real is that for every swing towards what seems like progress, there is an equal and opposing backlash that feels worse than the oppression that went before, because once there was hope, and then there isn’t.

Which sums up a lot of liberal feelings about the election of Trump, after eight years of a President who was intelligent, thoughtful, statesmanlike, progressive, an always informed if not always inspiring speaker, and scandal-free – but who just so happened to be black, which is an original sin that too many people cannot forgive. Not because he was a bad president, but because he was a good one. Not perfect, but then no human is. But good.

And in the eyes and hearts of white supremacists, his Presidency is something that must be erased or delegitimized at every turn. Because it is proof that truly anyone can hold the highest office in this land.

Unfortunately, the current occupant also proves the exact same thing. Anyone can be President. But Obama appealed to the better angels in our nature, where Trump continues to build his base among the worst elements of repression, racism, anti-semitism and suppression of any and all people who are not just like him, meaning white, male, Christian, heterosexual, and rich.

Reality Rating A: Some of the above is personal. And while it isn’t directly about the book, it also is. We Were Eight Years in Power combines essays that Coates published in The Atlantic during the course of Obama’s administration, one for each year, with a framing narrative that is his own personal story of who he was at the time, what he was trying to accomplish with his writing craft, and how he felt both about what he was writing and about the issues that he raised within it. He places himself, his research and his writing within the context of the black writers who came before him, and attempts to set himself in the context of those who will come after.

Some of the early essays are a bit dated, and occasionally it is obvious that the writer was still honing his craft. The later ones are searing in their intensity, as the author marshalls both his facts and his passion in service of stories that need to be told and things that must be said, but unfortunately seldom are.

The ending is hard to read, because we know what came after. And there is a bit of an element of what should be “preaching to the choir” but isn’t. Because I agree with the author that so much of what caused the rise of Trump is racism (along with its terrible brethren, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and all the rest of the fearful hatreds of people who the perpetrators perceive as “not like them” and equate in their minds to “less human”).

But too few writers seem to be willing to call it by its name. Because until this terrible history, and the present that derives from it, is acknowledged as exactly what it is and called to account, it can never become the past, and we can never move forward.

Ta-Nehisi Coates’s latest book, We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy (One World), a reflection of race, politics and history during Barack Obama’s presidency. Through his writing, Coates shows that having the country’s first black president ‑ though seemingly progressive and a sign of change in American race relations ‑ ended up only reinforcing the fact that nothing has changed. We Were Eight Years in Power is a collection of Coates’s essays, both new and previously published in The Atlantic. In each essay, Coates skillfully blends extensive research and interviews with his own personal experiences to demonstrate how Obama’s presidency went from being a beacon of hope to “an American tragedy.” What started as proof that black children could truly grow up to do anything quickly faded, as the Obama administration shied away from a “fight with any kind of racial subtext.” Coates’s essays are eye-opening and educational, giving you a chance to read between the lines of the country’s forgotten history.

Many thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

We Were Eight Years in Power is comprised of eight essays, which were originally published by the author's employer, The Atlantic. The repetitive nature of some of the essays is not a negative, as it, in fact, helps to underscore the point that the author is trying to make. Mr. Coates speaks to the larger issue of how, after eight years of having the first black president in the United States, the nation could still be stuck in a racial divide. The questions raised by the many in this country about the legitimacy of Barack Obama's presidency has given rise to the first white president.

As we swing from one extreme to the other, author Ta-Nehisi Coates has elegantly written his views about the eight years in power. I appreciate the fact that the author does not just speak to his roots and his heritage, but has thoughts and ideas that all people can identify with and learn from. His discourse is very intellectual, but with a delivery that speaks to all of his readers.

Ta-Nehisi Coates gets down to the heart of the matter regarding Obama's presidency. "The irony of Barack Obama is this: He has become the most successful black politician in American history by avoiding the radioactive issues of yesteryear, by being "clean" ... and yet his indelible blackness irradiates everything he touches" (p. 122). He also discusses "Racism is not merely a simplistic hatred. It is, more often, broad sympathy towards some and broader skepticism towards others" (pp. 123-124). Finally, on the issue of "whiteness" that Trump's presidency has brought: "Trump's legacy will be exposing the patina of decency for what it is and revealing just how much a demagogue can get away with" (p. 365).

With a fearful eye towards the future, author Ta-Nehisi Coates echoes sentiments that many in this country have uttered in their own homes. We Were Eight Years in Power is a book that I would recommend to other readers wholeheartedly.

While the majority of the book, not dismissively, is a collection of articles and essays written by Coates and printed in The Atlantic, it was virtually the last fifth of the volume that spoke most feverishly to me about the state of our being. We shall get to that soon.

Coates speaks quite intently here and in other forums, much in line with my views on the Civil War, Reconstruction and beyond in that white America has long attempted to reason its battles away from chattel slavery, yet maintain its positional stronghold via loophole policy and social infringement. I believe we've come to refer to it as white supremacy. But this is not a letter of apology for all my white brethren, rather a writ of condemnation for the failures of isolationists, supremacists and nationalists themselves and their posterity, the scope and generational damage of scorched earth they have left behind best left infertile. The George Fitzhughs and Jefferson Davises, the Woodrow Wilsons and Henry Fords, the Bull Connors and Governor Wallaces, the David Dukes and Donald Trumps. The list is interminable and not lightly populated with white men's names on the undercard just as well. It is an insidious disease to be racist, but that is not the point here.

We sit on the precipice of 2018 in the shadow of an individual who has assumed leadership under questionable pretenses. No subgroup, save white men collectively, is safe from ridicule from this man who purports to be a leader only by position, not by example. By governmental and Constitutional design, the democracy of our Republic is ruled by a three branch system, each with supposedly equal power under a network of checks and balances. Instead of progress, we have seen a curious case of de-evolution that more closely matches the social design of a playground. No one challenges the bully, instead aligning with him in hopes of gaining favor and future advancement in their own social standing. What then transpires is a free and clear path for a nearly unchecked reign to dismantle anything and everything by his predecessor through spite (emotionally) and executive order (legally) while his team stands silent and smiling behind him and his elven voters nod blindly in misguided assent. This is not amusing nor something that should require even a second's worth of silence, but rather a raucous debate over the purpose, logic, legality, and most of all human impact any of these decisions will have forthwith. DACA, Bears Paws, drilling in Alaska, ending refugee status for Haitians, military transgender ban, EPA reversals, etc.; new headstones erected daily for common sense.

As Coates said, our first white president. Mandates rushed through, thumping his white mushy chest at the behest of his white voting base of all variances. I should be that guy: middle age, soft-bellied, middle class, married suburbanite. Please Mr. 45, save me from diversity. It's killing my white image. But while I can't ever ignore my innate human prejudices, I will spend my last breath suppressing the urge to resort to violence in combatting the likes of Richard Spencer and his ilk. My disposition lies somewhere amidst there and back again, brought about by the inner peace of someone who eluded nearly every virulent childhood trauma and the inner rage of an inability to reconcile the late life realization of parental bigotry. Perhaps I had recognized it earlier and hoped it would wash away like caked mud from the skin. I saw a girl once in college who was biracial. This is not a story that is akin to the white man having the black friend and therefore cannot possibly be racist. Perhaps I am, I'll let others take notice. She was important enough to discuss with my mother. The discussion was met with silence on her end of the telephone. After the awkward silence, she broke by cautioning me about having black babies. While the relationship did not last, it did not damage the relationship with that girl. But it did damage the relationship with my mother, in retrospect. Twenty years on, Coates speaks of a much broader sense of racism: historically high incarceration rates starting in the '70s, employment prejudice (blacks with conviction records AND without were being chosen for jobs less than white men with conviction records), and if you go back far enough (1860s), blacks were depicted as being "preternaturally inclined to rape" according to a New York Herald report. A portion of the early bulk of the book rests on Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a Nixon adviser and author of the report: The Negro Family: The Case for National Action. As I said earlier, it is in the final ascension of Coates' work where he makes his most passionate remarks on the gravity of what the national human collective has wrought. While I heard familial quotes such as, "I believe Obama will go down as one of the worst presidents of all time" (my father), Obama was in the throes of an upstream struggle to gain continued progressive footing in a politically charged climate, particularly in the latter part of his Presidency with a Republican majority Congress stonewalling him at every corner only to complain bitterly about the same tactics less than two years later from a Democratic minority and an incompetent administration. More playground social strata. As a black President, Civil Rights legacies notwithstanding, Coates points out Obama's hand in nominating our first Latina female SCOTUS justice, support in the Obergefell v Hodges marriage equality case and ending the Don't Ask/Don't Tell Military Policy. Even his reflections on race and class warfare have poignancy. He spoke about (paraphrased) how he believed that those who took advantage of the interstate system, electricity from the TVA, the GI Bill, subsidies of the FHA, or the like shouldn't deprive minorities of that same opportunity.

2008. Perhaps a year in which a great fissure cracked the hard shell of modern complacency. A ground swell of progressivism burst forth with hands and arms to raise a dignified and well-spoken man to the chair of the Presidency of the United States. And a furious force of centuries old bitter loss of power, genetically passed for some, for some a stark wake up call borne of a non-existent threat ill-conceived by some glowing talking head in a rectangle feeding one caloric lie after another, began its vengeful crusade. If it sounds laughable, it's because it is in a sense--not comically, but self-destructively, that so many lack the enterprise to illuminate beyond their nose. When pressed why Obama is hated so much, the reply was, "He fires his generals." (My mother) While I am aware that this is but one example, this is the standard the black man was held to in her house. I saved most of my breath on Lincoln's propensity for removing and replacing high level military officers. He is, after all, the GOP's second Jesus. Obama, the black man, on the other hand, oversaw EPA regulations and the US involvement in the Paris accord that made environmental and health sense. Trump, the white man, pulled out prematurely, including reinstating the Keystone Pipeline project which has since, predictably, leaked 200,000+ gallons of oil into South Dakotan soil. Obama, civil rights protector, championed DACA, a program designed to help children achieve dreams. Trump, a white man with his foot on the throat of the nearest minority, stomped it out. Obama, finger on the pulse of the community at large, helped pass the Dodd-Frank Act to protect consumers from bank corruption and to ensure banks had enough capital in reserve to liquidate in the event of a financial crisis. Trump, finger on the pulse of the rich white bank conglomerate, stripped away the protections. The stock market pressure cooker he keeps bloviating about, should it sustain its rate, has nary an effect currently as less than half the populace invests at the exchange. Should it fail, and economic history says it inevitably will, not only will a vast swath of the population feel its effects but hit hardest will be the constituents this administration considers its least important stakeholders. Black and Latinx voters, the heart of many metropolitan urban and suburban areas are disenfranchised through voter suppression policies and here we sit, 150 years removed from the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments wallowing in an overtly xenophobic and racist afterbirth of our first black President those landmarks of legislation were meant to alleviate.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand," to quote the aforementioned Lincoln. The division is ubiquitous, the magnanimity absent. Coates itemizes the circus of racial estrangement surrounding Obama's presidency, a collection of loathsome treatment marred by political bigotry:

*the formation of a Tea Party, of which many activists hoisted a Confederate flag in defiance of a black Presidency and promotion of the phrase "go back to Kenya"
*the birtherism movement propagated relentlessly by our current dictator
*blatant and nearly unprecedented interruption of "You lie!" by a Congressman during an address on healthcare in 2009
*inexplicable refusal to hold Senate hearings on Merrick Garland, SCOTUS nominee
*immeasurable emails circulated depicting the Obamas in African garb, as primates, eating watermelon or some other stereotypical African-American food (some circulated by politicians and citizens in positions of authority--see below)
*conservative pundits pushing racist rhetoric such as Glenn Beck claiming Obama hated white people and Laura Ingraham promoting a joke stereotype about Michelle Obama constantly eating ribs

Once upon a time, Howard Cosell took a lot of heat for saying of a black football player, "That little monkey gets loose, doesn't he?" Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder was fired for making comments about blacks taking over football coaching jobs. Al Campanis was fired for saying he didn't think blacks were qualified for managerial or GM jobs. Today, the field of unacceptable commentary has thinned. With a fair amount of gratitude, we have Coates to engage the rhetoric, to provide the antithesis to the white man's oratory. We have a responsibility to listen, otherwise we do what we've done and we get what we've got. The keys have been handed to a megalomaniac intent on dismantling the last century and a half of progress. As Coates put it, "...the most powerful country in the world has handed over all of its affairs--the prosperity of an entire economy, the security of some 300 million citizens, the purity of its water, the viability of its air, the safety of its food, the future of its vast system of education, the soundness of its national highways, airways, and railways, the apocalyptic potential of its nuclear arsenal--to a carnival barker who introduced the phrase 'grab them by the pussy' into the national lexicon."

My 93 year old neighbor, bless her heart, sat at the kitchen table as I visited. She is nearly immobile, blessed with all her faculties and a feisty 96 year old husband. They happen to be African-American. I check on them periodically; take their garbage out, shovel their drive and what not. This night MSNBC was on, naturally, discussing the president. I asked how things were in the world, and she expressed some dismay. A few moments of silence and then she asked, "What do you think of your president?" I processed the question slowly, eyes glued to the flat screen. Suddenly I was aware that my dear neighbor, who I had been on friendly terms with for several years, had painted me into a Trump voting constituency. And why wouldn't she? After all, he won white Midwestern Illinois voters. An urgency came over me and I found myself blurting out, "What do you mean my president? I didn't vote for that buffoon!" A genuine surprise washed over her, and an apology ensued as if she owed me one. A goddam heartfelt apology. I have no choice but to be white in a white man's world and take on the new chapters of a literal open-minded ideation with resolve and liability, and from the education of Dr. King, President Obama, Mr. Coates et al, I am here to tell you Miss Maddie, you owe me nothing. We, the people, owe you.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC and allowing me to write an honest review/soliloquy on the course of our ship.

I have been thinking about my review for several days. How to sum up this book succinctly? I think that's impossible, so I'll just share some thoughts.
I am enriched by the information and opinions in this book, but it was one of the most difficult I've ever read. I feel rage and shame on behalf of my country, I feel helpless in the face of so much damage and destruction wrought over decades, I feel encouraged and inspired to fight for change. I am furious, sickened, and hopeful. I am confused at the same time my eyes are opened wider.
I said it with his last book, and I will say again: Coates is one of the best writers in our country now and I hope he continues.

Ta-Nehisi Coates continues to be a powerful voice in American society with his collected essays "We Were Eight Years in Power." This anthology pulls together selected essays that he wrote during the Obama administration, but he weaves in important context and voice that resonates powerfully in 2017 and beyond. Given the current atmosphere of race relations in America, this book should be required reading.

This is another compelling book from Ta-Nehisi Coates that is not to be missed, particularly in the times that we live in today.

In a year where I thought reading any more about politics might make my head explode, this was well-reasoned, well-supported, and beautifully written. Not an easy read, but important, especially for a white audience that may not have fully considered how our past is affecting our present.

With this collection of essays, Coates proves once again he is one of the top commentators on this generation and this culture--even thought that was evidently not his intention. While not as powerful as "Between the World and Me," this collection of essays shows the incredible insight and remarkable amount of research that we, as readers, have come to expect from Coates' writing. The entries, particularly the interludes before chapters, were justifiably cynical in the face of the current cultural landscape. Because the majority of the essays were written during the previous administration, I would have expected a bit more of a hopeful tone (who wouldn't, I suppose), but that was not quite the case. Coates pulls no punches with his opinions of how we are most certainly not past terrible injustices many Americans take for granted. My one real issue with the work would be the format: some of the chapters are disjointed, especially when read one after the other. Perhaps a slow, careful read of each chapter as an individual would be the optimal way to read. In any case, this book is recommended for anyone with an interest in the current American cultural landscape.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, writer for The Atlantic and the author of Between the World and Me, released one of the essays from his essay collection We Were Eight Years in Power in the October issue of his magazine. “The First White President” drew rave reviews, and the collection from which it was plucked is just as fabulous. With chapters such as “This Is How We Lost to the White Man” (about Bill Cosby’s version of slut-shaming for African Americans), “The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration,” Fear of a Black President” and “The Case for Reparations,” Coates includes one lengthy essay per year of the Obama presidency. All are potent, but the epilogue, what became “The First White President” is probably the most electrifying.

Coates is often lauded as America’s best writer on race. That’s a mistake. Whites tend to see their history and current affairs as highly segregated, with the White portion being the “real” version. Coates sees history and our modern condition as the interwoven tapestry that it really is. After Matt Taibbi and Jane Mayer, Coates is the greatest political writer we have. Highly recommended.

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from NetGalley and Random House in exchange for an honest review.

I have not read Ta-Nehisi Coates's books before, but I have seen videos of interviews and speeches he's done. He comes across as knowledgeable and with an intense, resonating  voice. I wanted to see if this was the same in his books as in his presence on stage and so I requested his newest book, a collection of essays about the years in which Obama was president, what that time was like, and what the time is like that we now face under a very different leadership.

The essays contained herein were at times a little difficult to read, not because of the way they were written but because the content deals with some truths and observations about our society that are not pleasant. Prior to each essay is a blog post Coates wrote around the same time and the very first one speaks to the experience of black people and success or failure and how those instances are used by white supremacists for their own agenda. It's heartbreaking and infuriating to see this happening and all those things again plus sobering when you see them written down.

We Were Eight Years in Power is an important book and one that I think could be very beneficial to discussions about the state of American politics and society. The essays encompass views and experiences that need to be told and shared, probably with the very people who think they don't need to read them at all. It's not the end-all-be-all book to read or to talk about, but it's definitely an essential step. The essays, interspersed with personal moments from the author, highlight the state of things in the U.S., in the politics governing the benefit or deficit of the people, and the experience growing up in a world the disgraces itself with how it treats people of different races.

As a collection of Coates' most influential essays spanning the Obama years, this works really well. A lot of these are essential articles that everyone should read (mass incarceration and case for reparations especially) but they come with the added bonus that Coates has looked back on each and evaluated where he was mentally and developmentally as he wrote each of them. He also provides his own critique of each as to what he feels their successes and shortfalls are. It is a great way to really get into his process and revisit some of the most essential views of the Obama years with a person who has an amazing viewpoint and voice.

The author has hit a home run with this book on the Black civil rights movement, and how Obama's administration invigorated the movement by being a respectable role model. I hope this author continues writing more books in this style.

this essay collection has the benefit of hindsight and is of contemporary lament. coates has a sure, reasonable tone that is refreshingly self-aware rather than self-obsessed (a plague of many essayists and the memoir generally) speaking with a clarity of will and a responsive complicity in what has happened since Obama left office and during his tenure. perhaps one of the best nonfiction books released over the last year or so. Reading this alongside Mychal Denzel Smith will definitely ground you in a noble fury

Such a poignant and thoughtful book is no surprise from Coates. Some of this content will be familiar to readers who have followed his writing in the Atlantic, but there is also new content not adapted from previous publications as well. Whether readers are familiar with his other writings or not, they will be able to follow Coate's honest voice.