We were eight years in power

an American tragedy

551 pages

English language

Published Oct. 30, 2017

ISBN:
978-0-525-62451-6
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
995048623

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4 stars (19 reviews)

In these "urgently relevant essays," the National Book Award-winning author of Between the World and Me "reflects on race, Barack Obama's presidency and its jarring aftermath"*--including the election of Donald Trump

8 editions

Review of 'We Were Eight Years in Power' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

In many ways "We Were Eight Years In Power" has been a fitting capstone to the year. Two of Coates' essays delved into subjects I had read about this year: Malcolm X and Michelle Obama. To have these people reviewed through another perspective - especially a perspective as intellectually rigourous as Coates - deepened my understanding of both. The other essays in this collection were likewise thought provoking. I had, to some extent, been aware of the way the U.S. structurely disadvantages people of color and black people in specific. The author hammered home the details of this system, and does so with poignancy, that fleshed out my understanding of history and deepened my anger. A couple takeaways:

One of the potential flaws of liberalism is the assumption that taking a color-blind approach to policy will result in a colorblind impact. However, Coates provides ample detail on how policies that …

Review of 'We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy' on 'GoodReads'

4 stars

A series of long-form essays from newspaper The Atlantic, one from each year of the presidency of Barack Obama, about racial politics. Coates' writing clearly improves as the years progress, with articles including a critique of the (racism of) American prison system, the case for reparations, and the presidency of Barack Obama among the highlights. The writing is strongest in the author's introductory chapters to each essay, and in the epilogue, where Coates is both personal and professional and writes with an unrestricted freedom. Unfortunately for civil rights the book rarely shocks, but it does present a coherent argument that grows as Coates grows in confidence and concludes at the beginning of the Trump presidency.

Unfortunately let down by a lack of reference list, making the book difficult to investigate deeper.

Review of 'We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

Yes, these pieces have all been published before. Yes, if you read The Atlantic (or twitter) very little here is new except Ta-Nehisi Coates's introductions to each essay. And yet the overall effect of recognizing that America has both built racism into its foundation and in fact nothing may be more American than calling it to account for that is an idea that has changed me fundamentally. Sadly, tragically but for the better. I owe this book and Ta-Nehisi Coates a boundless doubt of gratitude for that wisdom.

Review of 'We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is a remarkable and powerful book. It consists of 8 long essays, each written and published in the Atlantic during the eight years of Obama administration and all are available for free online (I had read the two of them when they were published). What make them now relevant is that each essay is preceded by a note, a short essay if you like, written at present time, in which Ta-Nehisi Coates set up the context of where America was at that particular time. At the same time he also describes how he was developing as a person and as a writer, during these eight years.

All essays are important but I particularly liked three of them. The first is the “Why do so few blacks study the civil war?” The Civil War ended slavery in America, so why blacks are not interested in studying this conflict, wonders Ta-Nehisi …

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Subjects

  • Social conditions
  • Politics and government
  • Race relations
  • African Americans

Places

  • United States