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Ta-Nehisi Coates deletes widely read Twitter account after exchange over race

The Associated Press
December 19, 2017 at 4:23PM
FILE -- Ta-Nehisi Coates, a national correspondent for The Atlantic and the best-selling author of ìBetween the World and Me,î in Baltimore, July 16, 2015. Coates has written the new, much anticipated, Marvel comic book series ìBlack Panther,î who was the first black superhero in mainstream comics in 1966. (Gabriella Demczuk/The New York Times) ORG XMIT: XNYT90
Ta-Nehisi Coates (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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NEW YORK — Ta-Nehisi Coates has had enough.

The influential author and journalist has deleted his widely followed Twitter account, writing "peace, y'all. I'm out." Coates had had a contentious exchange with Cornel West, author of "Race Matters." West had recently called Coates' views on race simplistic and defeatist. He contended that Coates was too uncritical of Barack Obama and was preoccupied with white acceptance.

Coates rebutted West's allegations and was defended by others, notably his friend and fellow writer Jelani Cobb. But early Tuesday, Coates tweeted, "I didn't get in it for this."

Coates won the National Book Award last year for "Between the World and Me," an anguished meditation on police violence against blacks. This fall, he released "We Were Eight Years in Power," which collects his writings about Obama.

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