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Racism Quotes

Browse 3161 quotes about Racism.

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Racism Quotes

“I received a most amusing postcard the other morning. Unfortunately, it was not signed in a readable manner so I cannot answer it privately. But it comes from Moblie, Ala., and says: 'Dear Mrs. Roosevelt: You have not answered my question, the amount of Negro blood you have in your veins, if any.' I am afraid none of us know how much nor what kind of blood we have in our veins, since chemically it is all the same. And most of us cannot trace our ancestry more than a few generations.”

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Book:Eleanor Roosevelt's My Day: First lady of the world, her acclaimed columns, 1953-1962
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“White hate crimes, white hate speech. I still try to claim I wasn't brought up to hate. But hate isn't the half of it. I grew up in the vast encircling presumption of whiteness - that primary quality of being which knows itself, its passions, only against an otherness that has to be dehumanized. I grew up in white silence that was utterly obsessional. Race was the theme whatever the topic.”

KnowsTryingStillsHatePassionWhiteRaceHalfSilenceQualityCrimeGrewSpeechGrew UpRacismClaimsPrimariesThemeTopicsHate CrimePresumptionWhitenessOthernessHate Speech
Author:Adrienne Rich
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“Who's counting? It was, of course, the minority who were counting. It always is. Most of the women I know today would dearly like to use their fingers and toes for some activity more enthralling than counting. They have been counting for so long. But the peculiar problem of the new math is that every time we stop adding, somebody starts subtracting. At the very least (the advanced students will understand this) the rate of increase slows. ... The minority members of any group or profession have two answers: They can keep score or they can lose.”

KnowsLongHas BeensTwoUseProblemTodayCoursesLosesAnswersGroupsStudentsActivityMembersRacismIncreaseFingersRateMathProfessionDiscriminationInequalityScoreMinoritiesPeculiarToesCountingFingers And Toes
Book:Making Sense
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“I don't like that word 'discovery.' ... Sinatra was the first one to call Ray Charles a genius, he spoke of 'the genius of Ray Charles.' And after that everybody called him a genius. They didn't call him a genius before that though. He was a genius but they didn't call him that. ... If a white man hadn't told them, they wouldn't've seen it. ... Like, you know, they say Columbus discovered America, he didn't discover America.”

IfsKnowsMenFirstsAmericaWhiteLike YouGeniusRacismDiscoverySpokesRaysWhite ManColumbus
Author:Gayl Jones
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“At times I feel it almost impossible not to despond entirely of there ever being a better, brighter day for us. None but those who experience it can know what it is - this constant, galling sense of cruel injustice and wrong. I cannot help feeling it very often, - it intrudes upon my happiest moments, and spreads a dark, deep gloom over everything.”

KnowsFeelsMomentsHelpingFeelingsDarkImpossibleRacismConstantInjusticeSpreadOppressionBrighterGloomBrighter Days
Author:Charlotte Forten Grimke
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“I felt pretty good growing up. I didnt feel a lot of prejudice or racism. But I do remember, if there was going to be a movie or a television show with Asian characters, I would go out of my way to avoid them, because they portrayed all Asians as either ridiculously good or ridiculously bad; you know, the whole Charlie Chan-Fu Manchu thing.”

IfsKnowsWayFeelsWholeCharacterShowsRememberFeltGrowing UpGrowingTelevisionRacismPrejudiceMy WayAsianCharlieTelevision Shows
Author:David Henry Hwang
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“I'M FEARFUL because in the back of my mind I know that although I'm a law abiding citizen I could still be looked upon as a "threat" to those who don't know me. So I will continue to have to go the extra mile to earn the benefit of the doubt.”

KnowsMindStillsLawDoubtCitizensBenefitsRacismThreatMilesExtrasFearfulKnow MeAbidingOf My MindExtra MileBenefit Of The DoubtLaw Abiding Citizen
Book:Under Our Skin: Getting Real about Race. Getting Free from the Fears and Frustrations that Divide Us.
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“I'M SAD, because another young life was lost from his family, the racial divide has widened, a community is in shambles, accusations, insensitivity hurt and hatred are boiling over, and we may never know the truth about what happened that day.”

KnowsMayYoungLostCommunityHurtHappenedRacismHatredDividesAccusationBoilingInsensitivityI'm SadYoung LifeShamblesBoiling Over
Book:Under Our Skin: Getting Real about Race. Getting Free from the Fears and Frustrations that Divide Us.
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“I'M SYMPATHETIC, because I wasn't there so I don't know exactly what happened. Maybe Darren Wilson acted within his rights and duty as an officer of the law and killed Michael Brown in self defense like any of us would in the circumstance. Now he has to fear the backlash against himself and his loved ones when he was only doing his job. What a horrible thing to endure. OR maybe he provoked Michael and ignited the series of events that led to him eventually murdering the young man to prove a point.”

KnowsMenSelfJobsLawYoungRightsHappenedEventsDutyCircumstancesProveRacismSeriesEndureDefenseHorribleYoung ManBrownOfficersLoved OnesSympatheticSelf DefenseWilsonHorrible ThingsBacklashProvokedDarrenRights And Duties
Book:Under Our Skin: Getting Real about Race. Getting Free from the Fears and Frustrations that Divide Us.
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“I'M CONFUSED, because I don't know why it's so hard to obey a policeman. You will not win!!! And I don't know why some policeman abuse their power. Power is a responsibility, not a weapon to brandish and lord over the populace.”

KnowsHardWinningResponsibilityLordWeaponsRacismAbuseConfusedPolicemenI'm Confused
Book:Under Our Skin: Getting Real about Race. Getting Free from the Fears and Frustrations that Divide Us.
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“I'M HOPEFUL, because I know that while we still have race issues in America, we enjoy a much different normal than those of our parents and grandparents. I see it in my personal relationships with teammates, friends and mentors. And it's a beautiful thing.”

KnowsStillsDifferentAmericaBeautifulParentEnjoyRaceIssuesNormalRacismHopefulMentorBeautiful ThingsGrandparentTeammatePersonal RelationshipsParents And GrandparentsRace Issues
Book:Under Our Skin: Getting Real about Race. Getting Free from the Fears and Frustrations that Divide Us.
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“We black women must forgive black men for not protecting us against slavery, racism, white men, our confusion, their doubts. And black men must forgive black women for our own sometimes dubious choices, divided loyalties, and lack of belief in their possibilities. Only when our sons and our daughters know that forgiveness is real, existent, and that those who love them practice it, can they form bonds as men and women that really can save and change our community.”

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Book:Saving Our Sons
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“What's wrong with leading the way? We've played that role before, after all. We gave the world the secret ballot... that did so much to raise living standards and improve conditions for workers worldwide. We were a leader in extending to women the right to vote. We were barely a nation when we set the bar for bravery and sacrifice by common soldiers in foreign wars. We grew up out of racism and misogyny and homophobia to become a mostly tolerant, successful multicultural society. We did these great things because we know we are in it together. It is our core value as Australians.”

KnowsWorldWayWarTogetherValuesNationsLeadershipCommonSecretLeaderRolesSuccessfulEnvironmentSacrificeConditionsGrewGrew UpRacismStandardsVoteBraveryRaisesWorkersSoldierCoreBarsGreat ThingsMisogynyHomophobiaBallotsExtendingRight To VoteMulticulturalCore ValuesLeading The WayMulticultural Society
Author:Geraldine Brooks
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“The thief who is in prison is not necessarily more dishonest than his fellows at large, but mostly one who, through ignorance or stupidity [or racism or poverty! - Draffan] steals in a way that is not customary. He snatches a loaf from the baker's counter and is promptly run into gaol. Another man snatches bread from the table of hundreds of widows and orphans and similar credulous souls who do not know the ways of company promoters; and, as likely as not, he is run into Parliament.”

KnowsMenWaySoulRunningCompanyPovertyIgnoranceRacismFellowsTablesPrisonStupidityStealingBreadThievesParliamentAnother ManWidowsOrphanBakersPromotersWidows And Orphans
Author:George Bernard Shaw
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“I went back to a small town in Poland where my dad grew up. It was a very traumatic experience for me as a young man to know that my father's family were killed by Nazis, killed by Hitler. And that left, you know, if not intellectually, at least an emotional part of me which said, God, we have got to do everything we can to end this kind of horrific racism or anti-Semitism. And I have spent much of my life trying to fight that.”

IfsKnowsMenTryingKindSaidEndsYoungFightingFatherLeftEmotionalGrewDadGrew UpRacismTownsMy DadYoung ManNaziSmall TownPolandAnti SemitismHorrificTraumatic Experiences
Author:Bernie Sanders
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“America is supposed to pride itself on freedom of religion, race, and class. It's something that is carried on from ignorance and territorialism. I don't know if it's a transcendental pre-colonial mentality but I don't see too many other races of people trippin' about who is coming in and coming out. I think it's primarily racism disguised as class wars.”

PeopleIfsThinkingKnowsWarAmericaRaceClassIgnorancePrideRacismComing OutMentalityTranscendentalFreedom Of Religion
Author:Myka 9
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“Because I know that the early Greeks and Romans and the early Europeans at that age did not see racism as we see it now - because racism was created to justify slavery to build the capital for capitalism - and back in the day they respected talent over race. We had an African Pope in the late 5th century, we had an African Emperor of Rome, and early church Fathers were black.”

KnowsAgeFatherBlackChurchRaceCenturyTalentLateRacismCapitalismSlaveryGreekJustifyRomePopeEmperorBack In The DayChurch Fathers
Author:Immortal Technique
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“I don't know what to say about Asians. I think everyone is "racist," to differing degrees, in that everyone's brain will automatically associate information with other information, based on the information they are looking at (for example skin color, bone structure), but I think focusing on race in any manner that isn't neutral or self-aware probably increases racism.”

ThinkingKnowsSelfRaceBrainInformationExampleColorDegreesRacismSkinsIncreaseStructureBonesRacistAssociatesSkin Color
Author:Tao Lin
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“There are three things, and it depends on the group that we're talking about, but there's history, there's culture, and then there's social networks. So, you know, historically black and white, they worship together until about the end of slavery, and people started moving out into separate churches. But it was because of discrimination and racism and such that blacks began to establish their own denominations and their own churches.”

PeopleKnowsEndsTogetherMovingCultureThreeSocialBlackChurchWhiteTalkingGroupsDependsWorshipRacismSlaveryDiscriminationBlack And WhiteThree ThingsSocial NetworkDenominationsMoving OutDiscrimination And Racism
Author:Michael Emerson
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