CBS Mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil served as a reminder of how white journalists have historically treated Black intellectuals, particularly those who refuse to help perpetuate views that have already been given plenty of air time in mainstream media. During a panel discussion with acclaimed author, educator and activist Ta-Nehisi Coates, Dokoupil took a particularly aggressive approach to questioning Coates about his book The Message, which draws parallels between Israel’s mistreatment of Palestinians and the Jim Crow South in America.
Apparently, Dokoupil wasn’t a fan of the book, and he wasn’t shy about saying so.
“I have to say, when I read the book, I imagine if I took your name out of it, took away the awards and the acclaim, took the cover off the book, the publishing house goes away, the content of that section would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist,” Dokoupil said. “So then I found myself wondering, why does Ta-Nehisi Coates – who I’ve known for a long time, read his work for a long time, very talented, smart guy – leave out so much? Why leave out that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it? Why leave out that Israel deals with terror groups that want to eliminate it? Why not detail anything of the First and the Second Intifada, the cafe bombings, the bus bombings, the little kids blown to bits? And is it because you just don’t believe that Israel in any condition has a right to exist?”
So, before we get into Coates’ response, I’d just like to take the liberty of translating Dokoupil’s diatribe as I heard it, being very much fluent in Caucasian condescension:
“First, if you weren’t as popular as you are, nobody would like your little Jihad book and everybody — and by ‘everybody,’ I really just mean ‘white people’ — would be saying, ‘Hey who the hell does this Muslim extremist think he is?’ But, hey, I’ve known you for a long time and I…
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