TGS Live: Ta-Nehisi Coates's Smug Rejection of Black Agency

20 snips

Oct 10, 2025

The discussion dives into the charged debate between Ta-Nehisi Coates and Ezra Klein regarding Charlie Kirk's assassination. Coates's characterization of Kirk as a hate monger sparks criticism for overshadowing black agency. The panel tackles whether Kirk's rhetoric is hate speech or a political tactic. They also consider the implications of depicting Haiti negatively and critique Christian nationalism's exclusionary nature. The conversation culminates in reflections on the left's approach to political discourse and its potential alienation of voters.

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INSIGHT

Rethink How You Persuade Voters

Political strategy must reckon with persuading skeptical voters rather than writing them off as morally inferior.
Glenn Loury and Robert Patton-Spruill argue Ezra Klein’s call for forbearance aims to win back persuadable voters lost since 2016.

INSIGHT

Don’t Equate Dissent With Hate

Labeling political opponents or their supporters as inherently hateful risks alienating potential voters.
Loury says calling immigration concerns 'hate speech' is politically arrogant and strategically counterproductive.

INSIGHT

Rhetoric Vs. Moral Condemnation

Much of Charlie Kirk’s rhetoric relies on cultural disgust and identity signaling rather than empirical claims.
Loury accepts the rhetoric is bigoted and inflammatory but distinguishes it from blanket moral condemnation as 'hate mongering.'

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This week on The Glenn Show, Robert Patton-Spruill and I get into a detailed analysis of a conversation between Ta-Nehisi Coates and Ezra Klein. The show begins as a debate on their divergent reactions to the assassination of Charlie Kirk, expressed in a New York Times column by Klein and a Vanity Fair piece by Coates. I find Coates’s smug, morally hectoring characterization of Kirk as a hate monger hard to stomach. As much as I admire parts of The Message, his vision of African American history as a struggle against an apparently timeless and all-encompassing white supremacy cannot go unchallenged, and Klein was simply not up to the task. But I am.

This is a long segment from my Friday, October 3rd livestream, and there’s lots more in the full episode. To watch that, you’ll need to become a full subscriber. I’m doing another stream next Friday, October 17—we’ll post an announcement with links next week. And John McWhorter will return on Monday for a regular episode for full subscribers (free subscribers will have to wait until next Friday). John and I really get into it on some of the same topics: Charlie Kirk, the Coates-Klein debate, and what being a “black writer” means in the twenty-first century. It’s one of the best episodes of the year, if I do say so myself. You won’t want to miss it.

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