Bill Maher Explains Why Black People Like Cadillacs To Ta-Nehisi Coates
During a discussion of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ epic Atlantic article The Case For Reparations on Friday night’s Real Time with Bill Maher, one of those truly comical awkward moments occurred when Bill Maher explained his understanding of the “black guys love Cadillacs” stereotype to a completely bemused Coates.
One of the key aspects of Coates’ article is the long history of housing discrimination, in many forms, and in discussing this, Maher observed that “This is where that stereotype about Cadillacs comes in, right? Because there was always that joke, you know, that black people love their Cadillacs because they couldn’t own a house.”
“I’m so unfamiliar with that joke,” Coates replied.
Smiling sheepishly, Maher said “Really?”
“I’m sorry,” Coates laughed, “I’m so sorry, I can’t even fake it, I’d love to fake it, but I actually never heard that joke.”
“You’ve never heard it?” Maher asked, again.
“I haven’t,” Coates said, adding “I’m not saying it’s not a joke, but I’ve never heard it.”
“Trust me, the white people know what I’m talking about,” Maher said, with a glance at his audience. Then he kept explaining. “Yeah, that black people love their Cadillacs, because that was, for so many years, the biggest thing they could buy, when you’re not allowed to buy a house, or a house in a good neighborhood, when you can’t get a mortgage, you know, the biggest thing you can take pride in is your car.”
“Alright,” Coates said, “I’ll take your word on it.”
“It’s an Audi now,” Maher added. “It used to be a Cadillac.”
coates from Tommy Christopher on Vimeo.
This exchange sort of blew my mind, because…READ MORE
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By: Tommy Christopher
Tommy Christopher is The Daily Banter's White House Correspondent and Political Analyst. He's been a political reporter and liberal commentator since 2007, and has covered the White House since the beginning of the Obama administration, first for PoliticsDaily, and then for Mediaite. Christopher is a frequent guest on a variety of television, radio, and online programs, and was the villain in the documentaries The Audacity of Democracy and Hating Breitbart. He's also That Guy Who Live-Tweeted His Own Heart Attack, and the only person to have ever received public apologies from both Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.
6 responses to Bill Maher Explains Why Black People Like Cadillacs To Ta-Nehisi Coates
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Traveler51 June 23rd, 2014 at 19:44
And another joke from the 80’s. There was a year when the Dept. of Ag. had a glut of cheese in storage and Reagan, etal, devised a plan to give away 5 pound slabs of cheese. The joke was that Cadillac planned on a recall because the glove box wasn’t big enough to hold a 5 pound block of cheese. (it wasn’t funny then, either)
Dwendt44 June 23rd, 2014 at 22:17
I recall that era. Reagan was the one, IIRC, that started the so-called joke about wlefare queens loading up surplus food in their Cadillacs.
Traveler51 June 23rd, 2014 at 19:44
And another joke from the 80’s. There was a year when the Dept. of Ag. had a glut of cheese in storage and Reagan, etal, devised a plan to give away 5 pound slabs of cheese. The joke was that Cadillac planned on a recall because the glove box wasn’t big enough to hold a 5 pound block of cheese. (it wasn’t funny then, either)
Dwendt44 June 23rd, 2014 at 22:17
I recall that era. Reagan was the one, IIRC, that started the so-called joke about wlefare queens loading up surplus food in their Cadillacs.
Justin Volke V June 24th, 2014 at 02:52
Stereotypes always have a kernel of truth in them. The free housing was real. The trashing of the free housing that turned it into high rise ghettos was also real.
But owning Cadillacs wasn’t so much true as stealing Cadillacs was and that is true to this day.
Maher did a pretty good job of digging his racist ass out of the hole with the Audi thing.
Justin Volke V June 24th, 2014 at 02:52
Stereotypes always have a kernel of truth in them. The free housing was real. The trashing of the free housing that turned it into high rise ghettos was also real.
But owning Cadillacs wasn’t so much true as stealing Cadillacs was and that is true to this day.
Maher did a pretty good job of digging his racist ass out of the hole with the Audi thing.