{"id":176180,"date":"2015-11-12T17:06:16","date_gmt":"2015-11-12T22:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webadmin.news-harvard.go-vip.net\/gazette\/gazette\/?p=176180"},"modified":"2019-04-02T17:38:04","modified_gmt":"2019-04-02T21:38:04","slug":"whats-past-is-prologue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/11\/whats-past-is-prologue\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s past is prologue"},"content":{"rendered":"<header\n\tclass=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-article-header alignfull article-header is-style-full-width-text-below centered-image\"\n\tstyle=\" \"\n>\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" height=\"403\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/111115_coates_tanehisi_609_605.jpg\" width=\"605\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">Addressing a Harvard Kennedy School audience, MacArthur Fellow and best-selling author Ta-Nehisi Coates (center) argued that America\u2019s practice of disproportionately criminalizing and incarcerating African-American men is a direct extension of our history of using the criminal justice system to address social problems. Coates was joined by Kathryn Edin, a former HKS professor, and Harvard Professor William Julius Wilson. <\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t<div class=\"article-header__content\">\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"article-header__category\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\tNation &amp; World\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading \">\n\t\tWhat\u2019s past is prologue\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"author wp-block-post-author__name\">\n\t\tChristina Pazzanese\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2015-11-12\">\n\t\t\tNovember 12, 2015\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t4 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tDuring Harvard appearance, Coates probes ongoing problems in criminal justice system\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t<p>Ongoing racial discrimination and institutional failures to dampen such abuses are roiling many college campuses, amid the larger national conversation spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement. In the swirl, few writers have so artfully articulated their era as the influential, best-selling author <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macfound.org\/fellows\/931\/\">Ta-Nehisi Coates<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The national correspondent for The Atlantic and a 2015 MacArthur Foundation fellowship recipient, Coates\u2019 article <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2014\/06\/the-case-for-reparations\/361631\/\">\u201cThe Case for Reparations\u201d<\/a> and his new book, \u201cBetween the World and Me,\u201d are deeply powerful exhortations on the present-day manifestations of the nation\u2019s fraught racial history.<\/p>\n<p>Appearing before an electrified crowd at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Kennedy School<\/a> (HKS) Wednesday evening for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.iop.harvard.edu\/conversation-ta-nehisi-coates-kathryn-edin-bruce-western-william-julius-wilson\">a discussion<\/a> about race and criminality, Coates was joined by moderator Bruce Western, director of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ksg.harvard.edu\/centers\/wiener\">Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy<\/a> at HKS; sociologist William Julius Wilson, the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard; and Kathryn Edin, a former professor at HKS and now Distinguished Bloomberg Professor of Sociology and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.<\/p>\n\r\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7XunV4vMj98?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\r\n\n<p>Coates argued that America\u2019s practice of disproportionately criminalizing and incarcerating African-American men is a direct extension of our history of using the criminal justice system to address social problems, and of whites sometimes labeling black people as criminals in order to justify limiting their rights and \u201cplundering\u201d their labor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe that as much as George Washington matters, as much as the American Revolution matters, the heritage of telling ourselves certain things about black people also matters,\u201d said Coates.<\/p>\n<p>The country has a long history of defining black people, especially those who sought freedom, as criminals. For a century after Emancipation, white Americans mounted a \u201cterrorist campaign\u201d against blacks through lynching and other violence that was somehow justified by this \u201cnotion of criminality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was common when African-Americans made demands for political rights to point to criminality as a response,\u201d he said, noting that in their day, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and even Martin Luther King Jr. often were seen not as heroes, but as troublemakers. King \u201cwas treated by the highest powers in this country like a criminal, and I think that heritage has some sort of effect\u201d on why the rate of incarceration of black men is so high today, Coates said.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not enough simply to free large numbers of non-violent prisoners in order to roll back the nation\u2019s incarceration rate to the levels of the 1970s, as the Obama administration announced earlier this year it intends to do, said Coates. There needs to be a coherent plan to assist with their transition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo reparations, to me, is to push the idea that it\u2019s not enough to just stop wounding someone; you actually have to heal someone. You actually have to do something about the harm that you produced. It\u2019s not enough to simply say, \u2018I\u2019ve stopped harming,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Changing the dynamics between blacks and whites will demand that people revise their self-definition. \u201cI think it requires a critical mass of people in this country to give up a real interest\u201d in their identity and standing in relation to one another, said Coates.<\/p>\n<p>Coates said he\u2019s been \u201cshocked\u201d at the reception to his book, which has been critically acclaimed and named a National Book Award finalist. The book recalls his upbringing in West Baltimore, where violence or the threat of violence was a constant fact of life, and appearing tough or \u201chard\u201d was a logical response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the arguments I made in \u2018Between the World and Me\u2019 is that much of what people look at in black America and construe as anger is, in fact, deep, deep fear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>As a writer, Coates said he feels he has an obligation not to argue for what could realistically happen in the near future, but for what needs to happen over the long term, and hope that it moves the needle more substantively.<\/p>\n<p>Asked to weigh in on the Yale University protest over racial discrimination and free speech, Coates said he didn\u2019t feel sufficiently informed to render an opinion. But he characterized a debate there over offensive Halloween costumes and emails as undoubtedly a symptom of far deeper issues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think, in these cases, we\u2019re like five questions too late,\u201d he said. \u201cBy the time that has become important, something else has really, really gone wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Celebrated author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates discussed how U.S. policy on criminal justice today is still deeply enmeshed with the nation\u2019s fraught racial legacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105622744,"featured_media":176183,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"gz_ga_pageviews":9,"gz_ga_lastupdated":"2019-01-02 22:09","document_color_palette":"crimson","author":"Christina Pazzanese","affiliation":"Harvard Staff Writer","_category_override":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1378],"tags":[6667,8168,15846,20527,32998,35941],"gazette-formats":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-176180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nation-world","tag-bruce-western","tag-christina-pazzanese","tag-harvard-kennedy-school","tag-kathryn-edin","tag-ta-nehisi-coates","tag-william-julius-wilson"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.0 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What\u2019s past is prologue &#8212; Harvard Gazette<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Celebrated author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates discussed how U.S. policy on criminal justice today is still deeply enmeshed with the nation\u2019s fraught racial legacy.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/11\/whats-past-is-prologue\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What\u2019s past is prologue &#8212; Harvard Gazette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Celebrated author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates discussed how U.S. policy on criminal justice today is still deeply enmeshed with the nation\u2019s fraught racial legacy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/11\/whats-past-is-prologue\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Harvard Gazette\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-11-12T22:06:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-02T21:38:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/111115_coates_tanehisi_609_605.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"605\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"403\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"harvardgazette\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/11\/whats-past-is-prologue\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/11\/whats-past-is-prologue\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"harvardgazette\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#\/schema\/person\/78d028cf624923e92682268709ffbc4b\"},\"headline\":\"What\u2019s past is prologue\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-12T22:06:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-02T21:38:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/11\/whats-past-is-prologue\/\"},\"wordCount\":799,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/11\/whats-past-is-prologue\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/111115_coates_tanehisi_609_605.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Bruce Western\",\"Christina Pazzanese\",\"Harvard Kennedy School\",\"Kathryn Edin\",\"Ta-Nehisi Coates\",\"William Julius Wilson\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Nation &amp; 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Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/","name":"Harvard Gazette","description":"Official news from Harvard University covering innovation in teaching, learning, and research","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#organization","name":"The Harvard Gazette","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Harvard_Gazette_logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Harvard_Gazette_logo.svg","width":164,"height":64,"caption":"The Harvard Gazette"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/#\/schema\/person\/78d028cf624923e92682268709ffbc4b","name":"harvardgazette"}]}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/11\/whats-past-is-prologue\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"What\u2019s past is prologue","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/11\/whats-past-is-prologue\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/11\/whats-past-is-prologue\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/111115_coates_tanehisi_609_605.jpg?w=150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/111115_coates_tanehisi_609_605.jpg"},"articleSection":"Nation &amp; World","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"harvardgazette"}],"creator":["harvardgazette"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Harvard Gazette","logo":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Harvard_Gazette_logo.svg"},"keywords":["bruce western","christina pazzanese","harvard kennedy school","kathryn edin","ta-nehisi coates","william julius wilson"],"dateCreated":"2015-11-12T22:06:16Z","datePublished":"2015-11-12T22:06:16Z","dateModified":"2019-04-02T21:38:04Z"},"rendered":"<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"wp-parsely-metadata\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"headline\":\"What\\u2019s past is prologue\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.harvard.edu\\\/gazette\\\/story\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/whats-past-is-prologue\\\/\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.harvard.edu\\\/gazette\\\/story\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/whats-past-is-prologue\\\/\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.harvard.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/111115_coates_tanehisi_609_605.jpg?w=150\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.harvard.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2015\\\/11\\\/111115_coates_tanehisi_609_605.jpg\"},\"articleSection\":\"Nation &amp; World\",\"author\":[{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"name\":\"harvardgazette\"}],\"creator\":[\"harvardgazette\"],\"publisher\":{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"name\":\"Harvard Gazette\",\"logo\":\"https:\\\/\\\/news.harvard.edu\\\/gazette\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/12\\\/Harvard_Gazette_logo.svg\"},\"keywords\":[\"bruce western\",\"christina pazzanese\",\"harvard kennedy school\",\"kathryn edin\",\"ta-nehisi coates\",\"william julius wilson\"],\"dateCreated\":\"2015-11-12T22:06:16Z\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-11-12T22:06:16Z\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-02T21:38:04Z\"}<\/script>","tracker_url":"https:\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/news.harvard.edu\/p.js"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/111115_coates_tanehisi_609_605.jpg","has_blocks":true,"block_data":{"0":{"blockName":"harvard-gazette\/article-header","attrs":{"blockColorPalette":"","coloredHeading":"","creditText":"Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer","displayDetails":"","displayTitle":"","categoryId":1378,"mediaAlt":"","mediaCaption":"Addressing a Harvard Kennedy School audience, MacArthur Fellow and best-selling author Ta-Nehisi Coates (center) argued that America\u2019s practice of disproportionately criminalizing and incarcerating African-American men is a direct extension of our history of using the criminal justice system to address social problems. Coates was joined by Kathryn Edin, a former HKS professor, and Harvard Professor William Julius Wilson. ","mediaId":176183,"mediaSize":"full","mediaType":"image","mediaUrl":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/111115_coates_tanehisi_609_605.jpg","poster":"","title":"What\u2019s past is prologue","subheading":"During Harvard appearance, Coates probes ongoing problems in criminal justice system","centeredImage":true,"className":"is-style-full-width-text-below","mediaHeight":403,"mediaWidth":605,"backgroundFixed":false,"backgroundTone":"light","coloredBackground":false,"displayOverlay":true,"fadeInText":false,"isAmbient":false,"mediaLength":"","mediaPosition":"","posterText":"","titleAbove":false,"useUncroppedImage":false,"lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" height=\"403\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/111115_coates_tanehisi_609_605.jpg\" width=\"605\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">Addressing a Harvard Kennedy School audience, MacArthur Fellow and best-selling author Ta-Nehisi Coates (center) argued that America\u2019s practice of disproportionately criminalizing and incarcerating African-American men is a direct extension of our history of using the criminal justice system to address social problems. Coates was joined by Kathryn Edin, a former HKS professor, and Harvard Professor William Julius Wilson. <\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","innerContent":["<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" height=\"403\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/111115_coates_tanehisi_609_605.jpg\" width=\"605\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">Addressing a Harvard Kennedy School audience, MacArthur Fellow and best-selling author Ta-Nehisi Coates (center) argued that America\u2019s practice of disproportionately criminalizing and incarcerating African-American men is a direct extension of our history of using the criminal justice system to address social problems. Coates was joined by Kathryn Edin, a former HKS professor, and Harvard Professor William Julius Wilson. <\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n"],"rendered":"<header\n\tclass=\"wp-block-harvard-gazette-article-header alignfull article-header is-style-full-width-text-below centered-image\"\n\tstyle=\" \"\n>\n\t<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img alt=\"\" height=\"403\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/111115_coates_tanehisi_609_605.jpg\" width=\"605\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><p class=\"wp-element-caption--caption\">Addressing a Harvard Kennedy School audience, MacArthur Fellow and best-selling author Ta-Nehisi Coates (center) argued that America\u2019s practice of disproportionately criminalizing and incarcerating African-American men is a direct extension of our history of using the criminal justice system to address social problems. Coates was joined by Kathryn Edin, a former HKS professor, and Harvard Professor William Julius Wilson. <\/p><p class=\"wp-element-caption--credit\">Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer<\/p><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\t<div class=\"article-header__content\">\n\t\t\t<a\n\t\t\tclass=\"article-header__category\"\n\t\t\thref=\"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/nation-world\/\"\n\t\t>\n\t\t\tNation &amp; World\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\n\t\t<h1 class=\"article-header__title wp-block-heading \">\n\t\tWhat\u2019s past is prologue\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t<div class=\"article-header__meta\">\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-post-author\">\n\t\t\t<address class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"author wp-block-post-author__name\">\n\t\tChristina Pazzanese\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-post-author__byline\">\n\t\t\tHarvard Staff Writer\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/address>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<time class=\"article-header__date\" datetime=\"2015-11-12\">\n\t\t\tNovember 12, 2015\t\t<\/time>\n\n\t\t<span class=\"article-header__reading-time\">\n\t\t\t4 min read\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t\t\t<h2 class=\"article-header__subheading wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\tDuring Harvard appearance, Coates probes ongoing problems in criminal justice system\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\n<\/header>\n"},"2":{"blockName":"core\/group","attrs":{"templateLock":false,"metadata":{"name":"Article content"},"align":"wide","layout":{"type":"constrained","justifyContent":"center"},"tagName":"div","lock":[],"className":"","style":[],"backgroundColor":"","textColor":"","gradient":"","fontSize":"","fontFamily":"","borderColor":"","ariaLabel":"","anchor":""},"innerBlocks":[{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n\t\t<p>Ongoing racial discrimination and institutional failures to dampen such abuses are roiling many college campuses, amid the larger national conversation spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement. In the swirl, few writers have so artfully articulated their era as the influential, best-selling author <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macfound.org\/fellows\/931\/\">Ta-Nehisi Coates<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The national correspondent for The Atlantic and a 2015 MacArthur Foundation fellowship recipient, Coates\u2019 article <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2014\/06\/the-case-for-reparations\/361631\/\">\u201cThe Case for Reparations\u201d<\/a> and his new book, \u201cBetween the World and Me,\u201d are deeply powerful exhortations on the present-day manifestations of the nation\u2019s fraught racial history.<\/p>\n<p>Appearing before an electrified crowd at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Kennedy School<\/a> (HKS) Wednesday evening for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.iop.harvard.edu\/conversation-ta-nehisi-coates-kathryn-edin-bruce-western-william-julius-wilson\">a discussion<\/a> about race and criminality, Coates was joined by moderator Bruce Western, director of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ksg.harvard.edu\/centers\/wiener\">Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy<\/a> at HKS; sociologist William Julius Wilson, the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard; and Kathryn Edin, a former professor at HKS and now Distinguished Bloomberg Professor of Sociology and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n\t\t<p>Ongoing racial discrimination and institutional failures to dampen such abuses are roiling many college campuses, amid the larger national conversation spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement. In the swirl, few writers have so artfully articulated their era as the influential, best-selling author <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macfound.org\/fellows\/931\/\">Ta-Nehisi Coates<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The national correspondent for The Atlantic and a 2015 MacArthur Foundation fellowship recipient, Coates\u2019 article <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2014\/06\/the-case-for-reparations\/361631\/\">\u201cThe Case for Reparations\u201d<\/a> and his new book, \u201cBetween the World and Me,\u201d are deeply powerful exhortations on the present-day manifestations of the nation\u2019s fraught racial history.<\/p>\n<p>Appearing before an electrified crowd at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Kennedy School<\/a> (HKS) Wednesday evening for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.iop.harvard.edu\/conversation-ta-nehisi-coates-kathryn-edin-bruce-western-william-julius-wilson\">a discussion<\/a> about race and criminality, Coates was joined by moderator Bruce Western, director of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ksg.harvard.edu\/centers\/wiener\">Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy<\/a> at HKS; sociologist William Julius Wilson, the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard; and Kathryn Edin, a former professor at HKS and now Distinguished Bloomberg Professor of Sociology and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n\t\t<p>Ongoing racial discrimination and institutional failures to dampen such abuses are roiling many college campuses, amid the larger national conversation spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement. In the swirl, few writers have so artfully articulated their era as the influential, best-selling author <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macfound.org\/fellows\/931\/\">Ta-Nehisi Coates<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The national correspondent for The Atlantic and a 2015 MacArthur Foundation fellowship recipient, Coates\u2019 article <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2014\/06\/the-case-for-reparations\/361631\/\">\u201cThe Case for Reparations\u201d<\/a> and his new book, \u201cBetween the World and Me,\u201d are deeply powerful exhortations on the present-day manifestations of the nation\u2019s fraught racial history.<\/p>\n<p>Appearing before an electrified crowd at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Kennedy School<\/a> (HKS) Wednesday evening for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.iop.harvard.edu\/conversation-ta-nehisi-coates-kathryn-edin-bruce-western-william-julius-wilson\">a discussion<\/a> about race and criminality, Coates was joined by moderator Bruce Western, director of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ksg.harvard.edu\/centers\/wiener\">Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy<\/a> at HKS; sociologist William Julius Wilson, the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard; and Kathryn Edin, a former professor at HKS and now Distinguished Bloomberg Professor of Sociology and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.<\/p>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/embed","attrs":{"url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7XunV4vMj98","type":"video","responsive":true,"providerNameSlug":"youtube","className":"wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio","caption":" ","allowResponsive":true,"previewable":true,"lock":[],"metadata":[],"align":"","style":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7XunV4vMj98\n<\/div>\n<figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","innerContent":["\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7XunV4vMj98\n<\/div>\n<figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n"],"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7XunV4vMj98\n<\/div>\n<figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n"},{"blockName":"core\/freeform","attrs":{"content":"","lock":[],"metadata":[]},"innerBlocks":[],"innerHTML":"\n<p>Coates argued that America\u2019s practice of disproportionately criminalizing and incarcerating African-American men is a direct extension of our history of using the criminal justice system to address social problems, and of whites sometimes labeling black people as criminals in order to justify limiting their rights and \u201cplundering\u201d their labor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe that as much as George Washington matters, as much as the American Revolution matters, the heritage of telling ourselves certain things about black people also matters,\u201d said Coates.<\/p>\n<p>The country has a long history of defining black people, especially those who sought freedom, as criminals. For a century after Emancipation, white Americans mounted a \u201cterrorist campaign\u201d against blacks through lynching and other violence that was somehow justified by this \u201cnotion of criminality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was common when African-Americans made demands for political rights to point to criminality as a response,\u201d he said, noting that in their day, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and even Martin Luther King Jr. often were seen not as heroes, but as troublemakers. King \u201cwas treated by the highest powers in this country like a criminal, and I think that heritage has some sort of effect\u201d on why the rate of incarceration of black men is so high today, Coates said.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not enough simply to free large numbers of non-violent prisoners in order to roll back the nation\u2019s incarceration rate to the levels of the 1970s, as the Obama administration announced earlier this year it intends to do, said Coates. There needs to be a coherent plan to assist with their transition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo reparations, to me, is to push the idea that it\u2019s not enough to just stop wounding someone; you actually have to heal someone. You actually have to do something about the harm that you produced. It\u2019s not enough to simply say, \u2018I\u2019ve stopped harming,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Changing the dynamics between blacks and whites will demand that people revise their self-definition. \u201cI think it requires a critical mass of people in this country to give up a real interest\u201d in their identity and standing in relation to one another, said Coates.<\/p>\n<p>Coates said he\u2019s been \u201cshocked\u201d at the reception to his book, which has been critically acclaimed and named a National Book Award finalist. The book recalls his upbringing in West Baltimore, where violence or the threat of violence was a constant fact of life, and appearing tough or \u201chard\u201d was a logical response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the arguments I made in \u2018Between the World and Me\u2019 is that much of what people look at in black America and construe as anger is, in fact, deep, deep fear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>As a writer, Coates said he feels he has an obligation not to argue for what could realistically happen in the near future, but for what needs to happen over the long term, and hope that it moves the needle more substantively.<\/p>\n<p>Asked to weigh in on the Yale University protest over racial discrimination and free speech, Coates said he didn\u2019t feel sufficiently informed to render an opinion. But he characterized a debate there over offensive Halloween costumes and emails as undoubtedly a symptom of far deeper issues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think, in these cases, we\u2019re like five questions too late,\u201d he said. \u201cBy the time that has become important, something else has really, really gone wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n","innerContent":["\n<p>Coates argued that America\u2019s practice of disproportionately criminalizing and incarcerating African-American men is a direct extension of our history of using the criminal justice system to address social problems, and of whites sometimes labeling black people as criminals in order to justify limiting their rights and \u201cplundering\u201d their labor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe that as much as George Washington matters, as much as the American Revolution matters, the heritage of telling ourselves certain things about black people also matters,\u201d said Coates.<\/p>\n<p>The country has a long history of defining black people, especially those who sought freedom, as criminals. For a century after Emancipation, white Americans mounted a \u201cterrorist campaign\u201d against blacks through lynching and other violence that was somehow justified by this \u201cnotion of criminality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was common when African-Americans made demands for political rights to point to criminality as a response,\u201d he said, noting that in their day, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and even Martin Luther King Jr. often were seen not as heroes, but as troublemakers. King \u201cwas treated by the highest powers in this country like a criminal, and I think that heritage has some sort of effect\u201d on why the rate of incarceration of black men is so high today, Coates said.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not enough simply to free large numbers of non-violent prisoners in order to roll back the nation\u2019s incarceration rate to the levels of the 1970s, as the Obama administration announced earlier this year it intends to do, said Coates. There needs to be a coherent plan to assist with their transition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo reparations, to me, is to push the idea that it\u2019s not enough to just stop wounding someone; you actually have to heal someone. You actually have to do something about the harm that you produced. It\u2019s not enough to simply say, \u2018I\u2019ve stopped harming,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Changing the dynamics between blacks and whites will demand that people revise their self-definition. \u201cI think it requires a critical mass of people in this country to give up a real interest\u201d in their identity and standing in relation to one another, said Coates.<\/p>\n<p>Coates said he\u2019s been \u201cshocked\u201d at the reception to his book, which has been critically acclaimed and named a National Book Award finalist. The book recalls his upbringing in West Baltimore, where violence or the threat of violence was a constant fact of life, and appearing tough or \u201chard\u201d was a logical response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the arguments I made in \u2018Between the World and Me\u2019 is that much of what people look at in black America and construe as anger is, in fact, deep, deep fear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>As a writer, Coates said he feels he has an obligation not to argue for what could realistically happen in the near future, but for what needs to happen over the long term, and hope that it moves the needle more substantively.<\/p>\n<p>Asked to weigh in on the Yale University protest over racial discrimination and free speech, Coates said he didn\u2019t feel sufficiently informed to render an opinion. But he characterized a debate there over offensive Halloween costumes and emails as undoubtedly a symptom of far deeper issues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think, in these cases, we\u2019re like five questions too late,\u201d he said. \u201cBy the time that has become important, something else has really, really gone wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n"],"rendered":"\n<p>Coates argued that America\u2019s practice of disproportionately criminalizing and incarcerating African-American men is a direct extension of our history of using the criminal justice system to address social problems, and of whites sometimes labeling black people as criminals in order to justify limiting their rights and \u201cplundering\u201d their labor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe that as much as George Washington matters, as much as the American Revolution matters, the heritage of telling ourselves certain things about black people also matters,\u201d said Coates.<\/p>\n<p>The country has a long history of defining black people, especially those who sought freedom, as criminals. For a century after Emancipation, white Americans mounted a \u201cterrorist campaign\u201d against blacks through lynching and other violence that was somehow justified by this \u201cnotion of criminality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was common when African-Americans made demands for political rights to point to criminality as a response,\u201d he said, noting that in their day, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and even Martin Luther King Jr. often were seen not as heroes, but as troublemakers. King \u201cwas treated by the highest powers in this country like a criminal, and I think that heritage has some sort of effect\u201d on why the rate of incarceration of black men is so high today, Coates said.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not enough simply to free large numbers of non-violent prisoners in order to roll back the nation\u2019s incarceration rate to the levels of the 1970s, as the Obama administration announced earlier this year it intends to do, said Coates. There needs to be a coherent plan to assist with their transition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo reparations, to me, is to push the idea that it\u2019s not enough to just stop wounding someone; you actually have to heal someone. You actually have to do something about the harm that you produced. It\u2019s not enough to simply say, \u2018I\u2019ve stopped harming,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Changing the dynamics between blacks and whites will demand that people revise their self-definition. \u201cI think it requires a critical mass of people in this country to give up a real interest\u201d in their identity and standing in relation to one another, said Coates.<\/p>\n<p>Coates said he\u2019s been \u201cshocked\u201d at the reception to his book, which has been critically acclaimed and named a National Book Award finalist. The book recalls his upbringing in West Baltimore, where violence or the threat of violence was a constant fact of life, and appearing tough or \u201chard\u201d was a logical response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the arguments I made in \u2018Between the World and Me\u2019 is that much of what people look at in black America and construe as anger is, in fact, deep, deep fear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>As a writer, Coates said he feels he has an obligation not to argue for what could realistically happen in the near future, but for what needs to happen over the long term, and hope that it moves the needle more substantively.<\/p>\n<p>Asked to weigh in on the Yale University protest over racial discrimination and free speech, Coates said he didn\u2019t feel sufficiently informed to render an opinion. But he characterized a debate there over offensive Halloween costumes and emails as undoubtedly a symptom of far deeper issues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think, in these cases, we\u2019re like five questions too late,\u201d he said. \u201cBy the time that has become important, something else has really, really gone wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n"}],"innerHTML":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n\r\n\n\r\n\n\n<\/div>\n","innerContent":["\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide\">\n\n","\r\n","\n\r\n","\n\n<\/div>\n"],"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-global-padding is-content-justification-center is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n\n\n\t\t<p>Ongoing racial discrimination and institutional failures to dampen such abuses are roiling many college campuses, amid the larger national conversation spurred by the Black Lives Matter movement. In the swirl, few writers have so artfully articulated their era as the influential, best-selling author <a href=\"https:\/\/www.macfound.org\/fellows\/931\/\">Ta-Nehisi Coates<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The national correspondent for The Atlantic and a 2015 MacArthur Foundation fellowship recipient, Coates\u2019 article <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/magazine\/archive\/2014\/06\/the-case-for-reparations\/361631\/\">\u201cThe Case for Reparations\u201d<\/a> and his new book, \u201cBetween the World and Me,\u201d are deeply powerful exhortations on the present-day manifestations of the nation\u2019s fraught racial history.<\/p>\n<p>Appearing before an electrified crowd at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hks.harvard.edu\/\">Harvard Kennedy School<\/a> (HKS) Wednesday evening for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.iop.harvard.edu\/conversation-ta-nehisi-coates-kathryn-edin-bruce-western-william-julius-wilson\">a discussion<\/a> about race and criminality, Coates was joined by moderator Bruce Western, director of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ksg.harvard.edu\/centers\/wiener\">Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy<\/a> at HKS; sociologist William Julius Wilson, the Lewis P. and Linda L. Geyser University Professor at Harvard; and Kathryn Edin, a former professor at HKS and now Distinguished Bloomberg Professor of Sociology and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.<\/p>\n\r\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7XunV4vMj98\n<\/div>\n<figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"> <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\r\n\n<p>Coates argued that America\u2019s practice of disproportionately criminalizing and incarcerating African-American men is a direct extension of our history of using the criminal justice system to address social problems, and of whites sometimes labeling black people as criminals in order to justify limiting their rights and \u201cplundering\u201d their labor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI believe that as much as George Washington matters, as much as the American Revolution matters, the heritage of telling ourselves certain things about black people also matters,\u201d said Coates.<\/p>\n<p>The country has a long history of defining black people, especially those who sought freedom, as criminals. For a century after Emancipation, white Americans mounted a \u201cterrorist campaign\u201d against blacks through lynching and other violence that was somehow justified by this \u201cnotion of criminality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was common when African-Americans made demands for political rights to point to criminality as a response,\u201d he said, noting that in their day, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, and even Martin Luther King Jr. often were seen not as heroes, but as troublemakers. King \u201cwas treated by the highest powers in this country like a criminal, and I think that heritage has some sort of effect\u201d on why the rate of incarceration of black men is so high today, Coates said.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not enough simply to free large numbers of non-violent prisoners in order to roll back the nation\u2019s incarceration rate to the levels of the 1970s, as the Obama administration announced earlier this year it intends to do, said Coates. There needs to be a coherent plan to assist with their transition.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo reparations, to me, is to push the idea that it\u2019s not enough to just stop wounding someone; you actually have to heal someone. You actually have to do something about the harm that you produced. It\u2019s not enough to simply say, \u2018I\u2019ve stopped harming,\u2019\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Changing the dynamics between blacks and whites will demand that people revise their self-definition. \u201cI think it requires a critical mass of people in this country to give up a real interest\u201d in their identity and standing in relation to one another, said Coates.<\/p>\n<p>Coates said he\u2019s been \u201cshocked\u201d at the reception to his book, which has been critically acclaimed and named a National Book Award finalist. The book recalls his upbringing in West Baltimore, where violence or the threat of violence was a constant fact of life, and appearing tough or \u201chard\u201d was a logical response.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the arguments I made in \u2018Between the World and Me\u2019 is that much of what people look at in black America and construe as anger is, in fact, deep, deep fear,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>As a writer, Coates said he feels he has an obligation not to argue for what could realistically happen in the near future, but for what needs to happen over the long term, and hope that it moves the needle more substantively.<\/p>\n<p>Asked to weigh in on the Yale University protest over racial discrimination and free speech, Coates said he didn\u2019t feel sufficiently informed to render an opinion. But he characterized a debate there over offensive Halloween costumes and emails as undoubtedly a symptom of far deeper issues.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think, in these cases, we\u2019re like five questions too late,\u201d he said. \u201cBy the time that has become important, something else has really, really gone wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n"}},"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":177445,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2015\/12\/time-to-turn-the-page\/","url_meta":{"origin":176180,"position":0},"title":"Time to turn the page","author":"harvardgazette","date":"December 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A look at notable work by Harvard authors in 2015 wouldn\u2019t be complete without their own best reads of the year.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Arts &amp; Culture&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Arts &amp; Culture","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/arts-humanities\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/081415_menkiti_ifeanyi_465_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/081415_menkiti_ifeanyi_465_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/081415_menkiti_ifeanyi_465_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":221669,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2017\/03\/probing-how-colleges-benefited-from-slavery\/","url_meta":{"origin":176180,"position":1},"title":"Probing how colleges benefited from slavery","author":"gazettejohnbaglione","date":"March 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Ta-Nehisi Coates offered a number of suggestions for those institutions eager to dig into their pasts and confront their ties to slavery. Stephanie Mitchell\/Harvard Staff Photographer Hundreds of listeners from Harvard and beyond packed a Radcliffe auditorium on Friday for a series of wrenching discussions about the historical role of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Campus &amp; Community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Campus &amp; Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Universities and Slavery: Bound by History is a daylong conference stage with speaker.","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/030317_Slavery_236.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/030317_Slavery_236.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/030317_Slavery_236.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/030317_Slavery_236.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":242818,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2018\/04\/11-harvard-faculty-elected-to-american-academy-of-arts-and-sciences\/","url_meta":{"origin":176180,"position":2},"title":"Eleven faculty elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences","author":"gazettejohnbaglione","date":"April 19, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The American Academy of Arts and Sciences announced the election of 213 new members, including 11 Harvard faculty.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Campus &amp; Community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Campus &amp; Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/022318_features_rl_0664-25001.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/022318_features_rl_0664-25001.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/022318_features_rl_0664-25001.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/022318_features_rl_0664-25001.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":69332,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2001\/10\/kagan-coates-are-appointed-hls-professors\/","url_meta":{"origin":176180,"position":3},"title":"Kagan, Coates are appointed HLS professors","author":"gazetteimport","date":"October 25, 2001","format":false,"excerpt":"Elena Kagan, a former senior White House official, and John Coates, once a high-powered corporate attorney, have been appointed professors of law at the Law School (HLS). Kagan is an expert in administrative law, while Coates is a corporate and financial law specialist.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Campus &amp; Community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Campus &amp; Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":182764,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2016\/04\/style-by-degrees-harvard-business-school\/","url_meta":{"origin":176180,"position":4},"title":"Style by degrees: Harvard Business School","author":"harvardgazette","date":"April 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Harvard Business School students, staff, and faculty are known for their sleek, polished style - sometimes with a hint of the unexpected.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Campus &amp; Community&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Campus &amp; Community","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/campus-community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/041416_style_degrees_208_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/041416_style_degrees_208_605.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/041416_style_degrees_208_605.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":58275,"url":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/story\/2003\/01\/new-study-suggests-staggered-boards-hurt-shareholders\/","url_meta":{"origin":176180,"position":5},"title":"New study suggests staggered boards hurt shareholders","author":"harvardgazette","date":"January 14, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"Staggered boards hurt shareholders of hostile bid targets even when a majority of the board is made of independent directors, and they do not appear to benefit shareholders of targets that are acquired in a negotiated acquisition, concludes a study conducted by Harvard Law School professors Lucian Bebchuk, John Coates,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Science &amp; Tech&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Science &amp; Tech","link":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/section\/science-technology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105622744"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176180"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":270108,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176180\/revisions\/270108"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176180"},{"taxonomy":"format","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/gazette-formats?post=176180"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.harvard.edu\/gazette\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=176180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}