Browse 3161 quotes about Racism.
“I'm flattered to belong to a race,
that causes heartburn to the heartless.
I'm flattered to belong to a religion,
that causes brain-damage to the brainless.
A race rooted in rights not ritual,
I belong to the Race called Human.
A faith centered on people not doctrine,
I belong to the Order of Integration.”
Source: Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper
“Cosmos is colored.”
Source: Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper
“Here at the mountaintop, we're just humans - no black, no white, no believer, nonbeliever - here at the mountaintop, we're each other's keeper.”
Source: Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper
“Cosmos is colored, all color is kin.”
Source: Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper
“Letter from The Mountaintop (Sonnet 2252)
Cosmos is colored,
all color is kin.
Scarlight makes the mind,
sunlight makes the skin.
Life is nonbinary,
existence is nonbiblical.
When 'sacred' is anagram for 'scared',
to sin is our Earth Gospel.
Churchill and Columbus belong in the jungle,
loudmouth karens belong in mental institution.
Those who've been to the mountaintop,
grow too human for the dunghills of dogma.
Here at the mountaintop, we're just humans -
no black, no white, no believer, nonbeliever -
here at the mountaintop, we're each other's keeper.”
Source: Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper
“Dream of the King is the Dream of Civilization.”
Source: Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper
“I Too Am A Racist (Sonnet)
I too am a racist, except my racism
is rooted in evolution, not ignorance and fear -
to me, human race is the mightiest animal,
which is why, our responsibility is far greater.
I too am a bigot, but my bigotry is tolerance,
I don't accept anyone as human who's intolerant.
I too am a fundamentalist, but my faith is choice,
every human is free to choose what's best for them.
I too am a traditionalist, except I walk the tradition
of acceptance, not a secondhand host to dividing lineage.
I too am an extremist, except my extreme is annihilation,
my culture don't exist, nor religion, or native language.
I am native of the earth, yet I'm immigrant to humankind,
for I come from a valley, alien to the states of the world.
I am not interested in building bridges, I am the bulldozer,
out to demolish convention that makes divisions possible.”
Source: Iftar-e Insaniyat: The First Supper
“Black, white, brown, red, yellow, hetero, homo, trans, poor, rich, literate, illiterate, weak, strong – all are my sisters and brothers.”
Source: I Am The Thread: My Mission
“I have heard a lot of white people say they don't see color. I used to think that was a good thing, as in we don't consider the color of someone's skin when deciding how we feel about them. But then I started to realize it's okay to acknowledge our differences. Also, it's a lie. We all see race, and that's fine. If we deny someone's race, we're denying a part of who they are as a person and not acknowledging the person as a whole, and that can slip into dangerous territory. If we ignore someone's race, we're ignoring the different perspectives they bring.”
Source: That Librarian: The Fight Against Book Banning in America
“Black, white, brown, red, yellow, hetero, homo, trans, poor, rich, literate, illiterate, weak, strong – all are my sisters and brothers. My life is their life. And till the last breath in my body, I shall be serving you with all the power in my veins. And beyond death, my ideas shall be serving you for eternity.”
Source: I Am The Thread: My Mission
“By hiding behind the overarching term “white privilege,” the small percentage of privileged whites have ensured the following: first, they remain disguised behind the veil of whiteness and thus maintain the status quo. Second, they ensure that most marginalized white people remain defensive—and come to their defense—whenever their wealth and power are threatened. Third, through the structure of “whiteness,” privileged whites ensure that a large percentage of disadvantaged white people see other groups fighting against similar socio-economic ills as enemies, not allies to unite with in their battle. As such, the first bold proposal I make, if we are serious about social change, is to replace “white privilege” with “privileged whites” to account for the many whites who are not privileged and distinguish them from those who are. The huge number of disadvantaged white people are allies in this battle against the privileged, wealthy ruling class who utilize countless “isms” and “phobias” as sorting devices, while using the term “white privilege” as a tool to prevent any potential allyship between many white people who are not part of their club, yet are misled to think that the problem is everyone else in society except the privileged whites…Precision in language makes a huge difference to ensure all social groups who need to unite and work together have clarity on what kind of changes are needed, and who exactly is blocking change and transformation.
[From "Understanding the DEI Dismantlement” published on Counterpunch on January 31, 2025]”
“Many DEI trainings and narratives have indeed enabled or produced types of people who seem to be looking for excuses to be offended and to construe, sometimes genuine human slips, as intentional micro and macro aggressions. Even worse, the way things have been done has resulted in people who are quick to play identity cards anytime they are confronted with totally unrelated matters like being incompetent in doing their work or other unrelated professional and personal matters. I am in no way condoning or denying the existence of racism, sexism, and countless other forms of exclusions, marginalization, and even violence against so many vulnerable groups and individuals, but I also can’t in good faith ignore the darker side of this coin. For one side to be true, it doesn’t negate the other darker side. In many workplaces and university campuses, we have armies of people who overuse and even abuse the language of ‘feeling violated’ over things like someone mistakenly not referring to them as “they,” but they remain completely silent and unmoved by countless injustices on campus or at work, let alone about atrocities and genocides in the outside world. We have a type that wastes so much time giving themselves and others the ‘permission’ to indulge in selfish acts of complicity, indifference, and silence under the guise of ‘self-care.’
[From "Understanding the DEI Dismantlement” published on Counterpunch on January 31, 2025]”
“If it does not hurt you or others directly, why do you deny its existence? Why do you deny that this world is full of such rich colors? We do not know them all.”
“At the same time that the Mayor and City Council acted courageously and progressively in ridding the city of those monuments to a loathsome past, the new regime that removal celebrates, as some skeptics note, rests on commitments to policies that intensify economic inequality on a scale that makes New Orleans one of the most unequal cities in the United States. ... Local government contributes to this deepening inequality through such means as cuts to the public sector, privatization of public goods and services, and support of upward redistribution through shifting public resources from service provision to subsidy for private, rent-intensifying redevelopment (commonly but too ambiguously called "gentrification"). These processes, often summarized as neoliberalization, do not target blacks as blacks, and, as in other cities, coincided with the emergence of black public officialdom in and after the elder Landrieu's mayoralty and continued unabated through thirty-two years of black-led local government between two Landrieus and into the black-led administration that succeeded Mitch.
Both the processes of neoliberalization and racial integration of the city's governing elite accelerated in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. It may seem ironic because of how the visual imagery of dispossession and displacement after Katrina came universally to signify the persistence of racial injustice, but a generally unrecognized feature of the post-Katrina political landscape is that the city's governing class is now more seamlessly interracial than ever. That is, or should be, an unsurprising outcome four decades after racial transition in local government and the emergence and consolidation of a strong black political and business class, increasingly well incorporated into the structures of governing. It has been encouraged as well by the city's commitment to cultural and heritage tourism, which, as comes through in Mayor Landrieu's remarks on the monuments, is anchored to a discourse of multiculturalism and diversity. And generational succession has brought to prominence cohorts among black and white elites who increasingly have attended the same schools; lived in the same neighborhoods; participated in the same voluntary associations; and share cultural and consumer tastes, worldviews, and political and economic priorities.”
Source: The South: Jim Crow and Its Afterlives
“Couldn't we be human beings before we are colored and caucasians!”
Source: World War Human: 100 New Earthling Sonnets
“English is my work language,
Turkish is my love language,
Spanish is my play language,
Telugu is my leisure language.
This would probably be different for you - perhaps for you, it all happens in one language - English, and that's perfectly fine. Different people are inspired in different ways - it's alright - as long as all our inspirations converge into one result - a better world for all - where there is no interracial dialogue, there is no intercultural communication, there is no interreligious relations - because - there is but one race, humanity - there is but one culture, humanity - there is but one religion, humanity.”
Source: Yaralardan Yangın Doğar: Explorers of Night are Emperors of Dawn
“Offsprings of Africa
(Black History Sonnet)
If a black family lives
long enough in a cold climate,
in about 100 generations or so,
their descendants will be born white.
This is how the white people were born,
Because we all come from a black mother.
No matter where we live on earth,
We're all Africans - our homeland, Africa.
Till you get this anthropological fact,
You are but a traitor to earth.
Black History is World History,
We are all offsprings of Africa.”
Source: Bulletproof Backbone: Injustice Not Allowed on My Watch
“Black History is World History.”
Source: Bulletproof Backbone: Injustice Not Allowed on My Watch
“People here liked to say they rooted for the underdog, but some of them got real quiet when the underdog was different from them.”
Source: Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club
“I'm about as American as chicken korma, apple pie, and chai, but even after forty years I'm still told to "go back."
Where, exactly?
In America, who (and what) are you when you're both "us" and "them"? When I'm a native but seen as a foreigner? When I'm a citizen but also seen as a perpetual suspect? When I'm your neighbor but also seen as an invader? When I'm a cultural creator but also seen as an eraser of white identity and European civilization?”
Source: Go Back to Where You Came From: And Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American
“You don't need to deny the self for inclusion, or to forget your roots for integration. All you gotta do, if you want collectivity, is, expand your roots and branches in cohesion.”
Source: Handcrafted Humanity: 100 Sonnets For A Blunderful World
“As the rich get richer, the rest of us will be left in increasingly precarious situations. In the global recession that is upon us, the powerful will double down on their control of state and cultural apparatus, They will be determined to repress, or co-opt, the tremulous expressions of resistance that are gaining volume as the people rise of against death. The issue of co-option is pertinent. Our articulations of dissent too often mirror the parameters of our oppression, reproducing oppressive systems, unwittingly reinforcing them, or indeed 'diverse' them, to make them more 'inclusive' when in truth the need to dissolve.”
Source: What White People Can Do Next: From Allyship to Coalition – An Empowering Guide to Interrogating Whiteness and Creating Justice
“Step across the color of hate into the rainbow of love, and you shall find life, liberty and happiness.”
Source: Earthquakin' Egalitarian: I Die Everyday So Your Children Can Live
“...the organization wanted our racial diversity without our diversity of thought and culture.”
Source: I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
“Whiteness wants enough blackness to affirm the goodness of whiteness, the progressiveness of whiteness, the open-heartedness of whiteness. Whiteness likes a trickle of blackness, but only that which can be controlled.”
Source: I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
“I have been in the room when promises were made to diversify boardrooms, leadership teams, pastoral staff, faculty and staff positions, only to watch committees appoint a white man in the end. It's difficult to express how these incidences accumulate, making you feel undervalued, unappreciated, and ultimately...expendable.”
Source: I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
“We are not a species, we are a family.”
Source: Mucize Insan: When The World is Family
“No diversity, no America.”
Source: Gente Mente Adelante: Prejudice Conquered is World Conquered
“I envision a valley, beyond red and blue, beyond flags and barbwires, beyond capitols and churches, where our descendants will sit together around a campfire and tell each other stories of the olden days - "remember when our ancestors used to live in tribes - they called it religion, nation, race and all that - how silly right!" I work towards that future.”
Source: The Shape of A Human: Our America Their America
“The New American Sonnet
America doesn't mean the best,
America means accountability.
America doesn't mean supremacy,
America means responsible liberty.
America doesn't mean flawless,
America means growing against oddity.
America doesn't mean condescension,
America means caring for all humanity.
America doesn't mean white or color,
America means celebration of diversity.
America doesn't mean red or blue,
America means together crossing rigidity.
Stars and stripes have no place for hate.
Our heart is human, it's humanity we celebrate.”
Source: The Shape of A Human: Our America Their America
“America doesn't mean white or color, America means celebration of diversity.”
Source: The Shape of A Human: Our America Their America
“I am inclusion,
I am indivisible.
My struggle is unity,
Human and hate are incompatible.”
Source: Martyr Meets World: To Solve The Hard Problem of Inhumanity
“Black children have to lose their innocence before white children do. They can't afford the luxury of just reading about the impact of racism and white supremacy in a book, because they're living it every day. Because oftentimes it means life or death.”
Source: The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person
“Being someone who supports people of color and stands against racism isn't easy. Sometimes it requires sacrifice and having difficult conversations -- but that will never be as difficult as actually being impacted by racism.”
Source: The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person
“I trust you, and that why I'll be honest and tell you that change is not easy. For some people, it won't matter that we're friends, or that you're friends with people who are like me.”
Source: The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person
“We need to do away with the idea of 'normal,' especially when it's used as a stand-in for 'mainstream' (whether that's white or anything else seen as such). Because at the heart of this difference between normal and abnormal is the belief that these so-called normal things are neutral.”
Source: The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person
“I'm asking you to protect one another and learn from one another. I'm asking you to turn 'different' into the new normal, and then tell others to do the same.”
Source: The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person
“We have to learn to see with new eyes, hear with new ears, and find new ways to trust other people's words when they tell us and show us how we're hurting them. Because doing the right thing sometimes means putting the pain of others before our own, especially if we are part of creating it.”
Source: The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person
“While this book is meant to be a guide for white people to understand and be better, it's important that white people also understand that it isn't the duty of Black people or people of color to explain things. I'm doing so because I hope it can ultimately make change for my community.”
Source: The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person
“A large part of white privilege is that it steers white people toward their cultural comfort zones.”
Source: The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person
“From white women wearing their hair in box braids to non-Native Americans wearing stereotypical Native American attire on Halloween (or anytime), cultural appropriation is one of the most frequently disrespectful and racist occurrences in society.”
Source: The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person
“Part of what makes cultural appropriation so problematic is that it ignores the need for understanding the actual history and people who own the culture. People can learn and appreciate, but unless they are from that group, they can never fully understand.”
Source: The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person
“No one would be comfortable being racist around someone who truly stands against racism, because they would know there'd be consequences.”
Source: The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person
“If I'm being honest with you, white people don't have to change; they will be fine without doing so. But white people should change, because just being fine shouldn't be good enough.”
Source: The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person
“There is a world that we can create that is stronger and more enjoyable if we all learn from one another and develop understanding that doesn't allow us to simply survive but to thrive.”
Source: The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person
“Affirmative action is letting some Black kids sit in the same row as most of the white kids. It's giving an opportunity to a person who would not otherwise have it because of discriminatory systems.”
Source: The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person
“Either integration or degradation.”
Source: The Shape of A Human: Our America Their America
“We have come to conquer hearts, not lands - we have come to erase misery, not identity - we have come to instill equality, not slavery.”
Source: The Shape of A Human: Our America Their America
“Starvation kills a body, but segregation kills a society.”
Source: The Shape of A Human: Our America Their America
“Black people and people of color are taught in school, in the media, and in everyday interactions to be empathetic and understanding of white people and their history. But most white people never have to do the same for us.”
Source: The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person