Outlook: Memo to Media -- Quit Quoting Sharpton

The Sound Bite Machine Doesn't Represent All -- Or Even Many -- African Americans

"When the news broke last week that the rapper Nas intended to use a racial epithet for the title of his next album, it was no shock that a television reporter immediately thrust a microphone toward the Rev. Al Sharpton. ... In its recent puff piece on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, '60 Minutes' needed only to unveil decade-old footage of Sharpton to represent the vast numbers of blacks who opposed Thomas's nomination. Some black intellectuals cried foul, arguing that the news magazine '60 Minutes' used a wild-eyed Sharpton to trivialize legitimate critique. But the black pundits are missing the point. To much of white America, and much more of the white media, Sharpton isn't a straw man for black America. He is black America."

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Ta-Nehisi Coates, who has written frequently on race issues for Time, the Village Voice, Washington Monthly and other publications, was online Monday, Oct. 29 at noon ET to tell the media to quit trying to depict the Rev. Al Sharpton -- whose resume is embarrassingly lacking -- as the monolithic leader of African Americans everywhere.

The transcript follows.

Archive: Transcripts of discussions with Outlook article authors

____________________

Springfield, Va.: Why is the media getting away with "race-baiting" by putting controversial black figures in the news to represent black people/issues?

Ta-Nehisi Coates: I don't know hoe much interest media has in race-baiting. I've worked as a journalist for about ten years now, and I think the folks upstairs just have a bias toward hits/circulation/newsstand sales/ratings etc. In their defense, they are running a business. It's just that there's an inherent conflict between that, and reflecting the full range of debate.

_______________________

Annapolis, Md.: Thanks for taking my question. This thread leaves open the question "who does speak for Black America?" Al Sharpton has a claim to fame from being the first to stick his face in before the microphones, but I cannot think of anyone who represents Black America. Thanks.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: The answer is no one. There are people who speak on very SPECIFIC issues involving black America. But why we need an overarching spokesperson is beyond me.

_______________________

New Rochelle, N.Y.: First let me thank you, thank you, thank you for that article. I have been waiting with bated breath for someone to finally say what you have. Do you think the media "chose" Rev. Sharpton because they see him as a buffoon/clown (the straightened hair, the "Rev." thing, associating him with James Brown, etc.)? I think this is why they put him up as "our" leader, which I resent. I don't have anything personal against the Reverend, but I never have thought of him as my leader -- nor do I need "one" leader, and I certainly don't want a "leader" the white media has chosen as if we are children who need to be told who to listen to. How dare they!? This is something whites have been trying to do since slavery -- trying to control what we see, who we listen to and how we think. We will not fall for these dirty tricks anymore.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Hi all. Thanks for stopping in.

Thanks for you kind words, New Rochelle. Hailing from Harlem here, so good to see New York in the house.

I'm not sure if they see Sharpton as a clown or buffoon, so much as media is just money-crunched right now. What I mean is that deep reporting that reflects the broad opinions and humanity of a group takes investment, it takes resources. Calling up two experts and having them fight it out -- on cable or in the papers -- doesn't really take many resources.

Most of these folks are glad to talk, and have talked so much that they've mastered the formula. They know how to give a good quote or sound bite. That makes things easier for the reporters. It makes things easier for editors/producers. And it stirs up the audience because a lot of us like to argue, for the sake of arguing.

What relationship does any of this bear to the truth? I have no idea. I think all people get caricatured in mass media. But I think for black people this has some really specific, unusual and unfortunate implications.

_______________________

New Jersey: I found some of your comments quite insightful. Can you tell me where you attended college and how you developed your perspectives on race issues?

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Howard University--didn't graduate but got more than my share of education. Got my view on "race issues" primarily from my beautifully black mother and father. They were always conscious and pro-black--but with a sense of humor and irony, that seems to be absent from public discourse these days.

_______________________

Atlanta: I am sorry you feel that Al Sharpton is an embarrassment to African Americans, but he represents our race very well. Before you go to pointing fingers, what are you doing to help African Americans?

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Meh, I never said he was an embarrassment. Just a guy who's got a sleazy pact with mass media.

As for me, I wasn't blessed with the gift of the 15-second sound bite. I'm modest man of modest means. I help my son with his homework, volunteer for his Pop Warner team, try to have dinner ready when my lady gets home, and breakfast ready when she wakes up on the weekend. By and by, I hope to be strong enough to understand that dirty clothes go in the hamper.

What can I say? The revolution begins with a two-parent household.

_______________________

Ogden, Utah: I know exactly how this happens -- al is on everyone's Rolodex as the guy to call for a quote that will make the boss happy. Plus, being the loudest, he's one you don't dare ignore because the other guys will call him, get that zingy quote, and then you have to tell the boss why you didn't have it too. It's not dissimilar to the coverage of Britney and Lindsay and Paris and so on. Actual real news value has very little to do with it, sadly.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: You're right. Celebrity journalism resembles "real" journalism in more ways than a lot of people want to admit. Having said that, I want to avoid the broad brush. There are some folks -- great reporters and writers -- who are fighting the good fight and looking to capture the complexity of things. We just need more of them.

_______________________

Fairfax, Va.: I've heard the debate that Sharpton and Jackson are more racially divisive than they are anything else. What's your opinion on that debate? Also, which specific group do you think Sharpton accurately represents?

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Hmmm, I'm more sympathetic to Jesse. I was only 12 at the time, but I have fond memories of his 88 campaign. I know he's had more than his share of shadiness since then, and I do wish we could evolve out of the need to picket every minor offense.

I think Sharpton represents one perspective in black America -- one of many. The problem is that he is presented as the dominant one too often. It isn't just that he isn't a black leader; I don't know if there are any "black leaders" anymore, in the grandness of what that used to mean. That's a good thing as far as I am concerned.

_______________________

Silver Spring, Md.: You state that Al Sharpton has a sleazy pact with the media. Whose fault is that -- his or the media's? There are plenty of media whores out there of all races. I am not a Sharpton fan, but at least he speaks and defends, unlike someone like Cosby who critiques but has no meaningful solutions. And what are you personally doing?

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Both, both and both. It's a pact -- meaning it requires two parties.

And as to what I am personally doing, I answered that--trying to learn to put my dirty clothes in the hamper. You think I'm joking; I'm so not.

_______________________

Winnipeg, Manitoba: This is just me, but if I were a producer/editor looking for an intelligent, pithy comment on black issues in America, the first person I would call is Eugene Robinson. A great combination of eloquence and perspective and a super speaking voice.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Agreed -- smart guy, and a decent human being.

_______________________

Washington: I am quite sure you are aware of the book "Head Negro in Charge Syndrome" (by a local author), which speaks to larger issues associated with the so-called leadership (Sharpton, Jackson) and this topic. Nevertheless, it indicts not just Sharpton but the few others blacks that hold this so-called media black leadership title, be it black intelligentsia (West, Dyson, Gates) or the preachers. Where do you see the problem, the weakness in our community to form collective bodies of thought, effort or agenda? We do it in our families, and in our immediate social circles...

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Nope. I think there's a lot of money to be made in punditry. It isn't just with us. The Iraq War has birthed a whole industry of opinionate-ers. Doesn't much matter if they're proven right or wrong either. They just keeping going and going and...

_______________________

Anonymous: Who are you to tell the media that Rev. Sharpton doesn't represent black America? We can agree to disagree. If you don't agree with his views, then you have that right, but you don't speak for the majority of us who do agree with what he is doing. If Rev. Sharpton weren't relevant, this article would not have been written. Usually things that aren't relevant aren't even addressed.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Just one of his loyal constituents!

_______________________

Washington: I had the great pleasure of watching a talk by Dr. Ben Carson on C-SPAN this past weekend. Here is a brilliant, accomplished, articulate compassionate man who was addressing many of the same issues an Al Sharpton would, albeit without the self-serving, juvenile grandstanding employed by Sharpton (who, aside from a gift for bombast, actually has no accomplishments to his credit). There are many African Americans on the caliber of Dr. Carson -- Thomas Sowell, Dr. Alvin Poussaint and Julian Bond to name a few who speak out on important issues -- yet they do not get media coverage equal to a Sharpton. So the question: Why not? And what is the impact of that?

Ta-Nehisi Coates: I grew up in Baltimore during the '80s. Dr. Carson was god there. At seemingly every summer camp I attended, he was invited to speak. It only recently occurred to me that he was taking time out of his busy day to try to push some positivity our way.

As for everyone else, who can say? I imagine it takes some time to understand the media game. Sharpton's got it down pretty cold. Also, I think there is another key here: Sharpton really, really raises the blood pressure of a lot of white people. In truth, his positions aren't that far afield of Julian Bond's, but Sharpton gets a very particular rise out of a lot of whites, I think. People love to hate him.

_______________________

Southeast Washington: The one thing I loathe about the Sharpton's, Jackson's and the apparent lack of black leadership is its lack of a collective focus, goal or plan. March on Jena -- okay, but for what? At 21, that seemed logical; at 40, I quickly can think of three or four other avenues that would bring real pressure to the town of Jena, the parish or state of Louisiana. In that regard, shouldn't the Congressional Black Caucus start to receive much bitter criticism? We all know what Sharpton is about, but he simply is stepping into a void that our elected blacks do not address!

Ta-Nehisi Coates: The most disappointing thing for me was to see those cats at the BET awards. I know they got jobbed, but man -- we've got to be smarter.

_______________________

New Jersey: I usually don't read the paper, but I read your article because I was intrigued by the headline. I'm also intrigued by your responses to the comments and questions of this online conversation. I will now search for your byline. In what section do your articles usually appear? I also strongly agree with your comment that the revolution begins with a two-parent household.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Haven't written for The Post in years -- literally. Only 32, but man I feel so old. I do write here and there though. The life of a freelancer is hard to predict -- and even harder to sustain!

_______________________

Anonymous: Ever hear of the Willie Lynch Speech? Black-on-black attacks ... so how do we escape?

Ta-Nehisi Coates: It's myth. You've been had, took, bamboozled, led astray!

See here. Hope that went through.

_______________________

Pittsburgh: P.S. How should we pronounce your name?

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Oh, how nice of you:

Tah-Nah-Ha-See

Harder than it looks -- and it looks hard!

_______________________

Washington: Ta-Nehisi, I am interested to know how and where you get your best information about black issues. I feel that one of our real problems is that there is no good, non-social newspaper/newsmagazine that publishes the information we need to know. I have begun to rely on several blogs for this information, which is more than I had before, but I still feel a real absence of information. If there were a good news source, perhaps it would help us to pull together and address these issues more cohesively. Do you agree?

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Yeah this is a problem. We haven't quite mastered the new economics of media (maybe that's a good thing!) and put together publications, like say Emerge back in the '90s.

I do what most other out of work freelancers do -- read the Times and The Post, the New Yorker, the Atlantic, take in a couple books a month, and play far far far too many video games. I am what I am...

_______________________

Washington: Do you think that we are "dumbing-down" our race by allowing Sharpton, Jackson, and their ilk to speak for us? We seem to have embraced a lower standard for everything else (approving out-of-wedlock births, encouraging the less-educated and less-experienced to stand up and take control) and the Sharpton issue is just one more way that we have allowed the less-desirable segments of our community to come to the forefront.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Nope. Because I don't think we pick these folks. In their defense, a portion of black America does pick them. But the "there can only be one" syndrome really cripples us. Also you have to remember that times have changed.

Martin Luther King Jr. was essentially a genius -- I mean that almost literally. Segregation took the fight to him -- it made him have to come out and join the movement. What I mean is a lot of our greatest talent is off fighting less public battles these days. But let's not confuse that with not fighting at all.

_______________________

Clinton, Md.: I think the article was well written; however, I had a problem with the title and some of the comparisons used in the piece. My main concern is that you would pick Sharpton as your topic and basically cut him down when he isn't the problem. He is the person getting the attention and at least when Sharpton is on the story it immediately get a great deal of attention -- that in itself is a plus for valid causes. How much attention would you get if you stood on the corner and complained about something? Don't shoot the messenger; there are a lot of other bad, very bad things that you could be focusing on.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Fair enough. But let's be wary of what gets attention and why. Obesity is murdering black people here in Harlem where I live. The paucity of black wealth is destroying our ability to educate our kids. Every time a black father walks out on his kids, it's like a nuclear bomb being dropped into the community.

No disrespect, but our problems go so beyond some stupid racist kids in Jena and a few some rogue cops. We've got huge overarching issues here, but I think there is strong desire to hearken back to the simplicity of the '60s when evil wore a sheet.

To quote one of my favorite characters from "The Wire" -- the game's the same, but it just got mo' fierce.

_______________________

Romulus, Mich.:"Anonymous: Ever hear of the Willie Lynch Speech? Black-on-black attacks ... so how do we escape? Ta-Nehisi Coates: It's myth. You've been had, took, bamboozled, led astray!"Come on now, don't give out blanket answers. Where/why is it a myth? Back it up. Hard to get where you are coming from ... need to come to black talk radio one day.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Invite me. I tried to post link. If you didn't get it just Google "Jelani Cobb" and "Willie Lynch" you'll get there soon enough. Cobb is young sharp historian down at Spelman. He basically exposed the whole thing as a hoax. It's all so much deeper than we thought, and yet not...

_______________________

Hater: With this article, Ta-Nehisi Coates represents the people who have a crab mentality. As much as everyone wants to hate on Rev. Sharpton, how many of them have bothered to do even half as much as he does? He puts his butt on the line for people who have been wronged or otherwise ignored by America, and he dedicates his life to bringing the promises of justice and freedom to all Americans, not just those who are rich and born into prominent families. He is not irrelevant -- Ta-Nehisi Coates is just jealous. And to say that Rev. Sharpton is Black America is just as absurd and shortsighted as saying that Paris Hilton is the poster child for young, white, American women.

Ta-Nehisi Coates: You got me. I'm man enough to say when I've been found out.

_______________________

Hartford, Conn.: What penalty do you think Don Imus should have paid for his remarks? Should Don Imus be given any credit for apologizing for them and admitting they were wrong? How should similar future instances of making racial comments on the air be handled? Does it make a difference if the person who makes such comments then apologizes for them?

Ta-Nehisi Coates: No idea. I never listened to him, and like a lot of cats I knew didn't much care either way. I guess he's a bigot, but bigotry is about No. 17 on the list of things making life hard for black folks. Okay, maybe No. 12...

_______________________

Atlanta: I definitely agree with your premise, he seems to be the first called to respond to issues they can put a spin on to make black America look a certain way to the general (white) public. My concern is blacks using the white media to air our dirty laundry. I agree that you have a valid point, but is there another venue that we can use to keep it amongst us? In defense of Al Sharpton, he does have some very positive things two say, but I have to ask whether is he talking out both side of his mouth (jousting with O'Reilly then eating dinner with him the next day)?

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Heh, you wanna see dirty laundry being aired? Isn't the R. Kelly trial going on right now?

Seriously, that's a valid concern. Regrettably, given how many of us there are, and how diverse our opinions are, I doubt we will get that private space. Having said that, the idea of having publications and media vehicles controlled by black folks is important. It isn't always the solution -- see BET -- but it's an important step.

_______________________

Ta-Nehisi Coates: Okay, I guess that's it for me folks. Thanks for having me along. Good luck to everyone. Thanks for reading the piece and for the lively discussion.

_______________________

Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.