Why is it that, despite being one of the most gifted orators on race in America, President Obama rarely addresses the issue? In the September issue of The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a whirlwind essay on the many ironies of Barack Obama's presidency. One in particular is his consistent avoidance of race despite the heavy focus it garners in his two memoirs and personal life, especially given that "he is the first president who could credibly teach a black-studies class," as Coates writes.

One of the answers Coates points to is the way his words on race are twisted in the current political environment. Any time Obama invokes race, the issue becomes toxic. In particular, Coates gives a fascinating media cycle examination of the effect of Obama's brief statements about Trayvon Martin's death earlier this year, which turned the issue from a non-partisan national tragedy to a bitter partisan trench war. Per Coates:



Read Coates' entire Atlantic essay, "Fear of a Black President," here