Jane Elliott Quotes

• You are not born racist. You are born into a racist society. And like anything else, if you can learn it, you can unlearn it. But some people choose not to unlearn it, because they're afraid they'll lose power if they share with other people. We are afraid of sharing power. That's what it's all about.

  Jane Elliott

  Fear, Power, People

  348 Copy quote

• White people’s number one freedom, in the United States of America, is the freedom to be totally ignorant of those who are other than white. We don’t have to learn about those who are other than white. And our number two freedom is the freedom to deny that we’re ignorant.

  Jane Elliott

  Teacher, Freedom, Ignorance

  285 Copy quote

• We are still conditioning people in this country and, indeed, all over the globe to the myth of white superiority. We are constantly being told that we don't have racism in this country anymore, but most of the people who are saying that are white. White people think it isn't happening because it isn't happening to them.

  Jane Elliott

  Country, Thinking, White

  174 Copy quote

• To sit back and do nothing is to cooperate with the oppressor.

  Jane Elliott

  Courage, Oppressors

  122 Copy quote

• When you say to a person of colour, 'When I see you, I don't see you Black; I just see everybody the same' think about that. You don't have the right to say to a person, 'I do not see you as you are; I want to see you as I would be more comfortable seeing you.'

  Jane Elliott

  Thinking, Black, Would Be

  161 Copy quote

• We don't need a melting pot in this country, folks. We need a salad bowl. In a salad bowl, you put in the different things. You want the vegetables — the lettuce, the cucumbers, the onions, the green peppers — to maintain their identity. You appreciate differences.

  Jane Elliott

  Country, Vegetables, Differences

  129 Copy quote

• We learn to be racist, therefore we can learn not to be racist. Racism is not genetical. It has everything to do with power.

  Jane Elliott

  Racism, Racist

  101 Copy quote

• Education in this country is about how to maintain the status quo and to perpetuate racism.

  Jane Elliott

  Country, Maintaining The Status Quo, Racism

  66 Copy quote

• Racism is a learned affliction and anything that is learned can be unlearned

  Jane Elliott

  Racism, Affliction

  58 Copy quote

• We dont know anything about racism. Weve never experienced it. If words can make a difference in your life for seven minutes, how would it affect you if you heard this every day of your life?

  Jane Elliott

  Differences, Racism, Making A Difference

  52 Copy quote

• I am absolutely opposed to political correctness. You cannot confront hate speech until you've experienced it. You need to hear every side of the issue instead of just one.

  Jane Elliott

  Hate, Issues, Political

  62 Copy quote

• No white group has founded a major religion on this planet. The major religious were started in the Orient and the Middle East, not in Greece and Rome. I always knew you racists didn't have a prayer.

  Jane Elliott

  Religious, Prayer, Rome

  52 Copy quote

• 450,000 Iraqi children have died from starvation and lack of medicine as a result of our embargo. If you believe God loves little children - and hundreds of thousands more Iraqi children will die if there is war - you have to believe that God will judge us very harshly for this.

  Jane Elliott

  Children, War, Believe

  47 Copy quote

• I've got news for you: There are going to be people other than Christians in the hereafter. What are you going to do about it? Are you not going to go?

  Jane Elliott

  Christian, People, News

  33 Copy quote

• Somebody has to wear the black hat and give the audience someone to shake their fists at. They want someone to hate. And if that's what you want to pay me to do, I'm happy to do it!

  Jane Elliott

  Hate, Giving, Black

  "Jane Elliot Dishes Her Role as General Hospital's Queen of Mean". Interview with Michael Logan, www.tvguide.com. May 15, 2012.

  31 Copy quote

• I'm a practicing Christian - and I'm going to keep practicing till I get it right - but I don't feel everyone has to practice the same religion that I do. You have a right to worship who you choose and how you choose to.

  Jane Elliott

  Christian, Practice, Worship

  34 Copy quote

• About 10,000 years ago, males and females were acting equitably and were treating one another as equals, and then males took over the power, because they have physical power and physical strength.

  Jane Elliott

  Years, Acting, Males

  37 Copy quote

• I loved raising my kids. I loved the process, the dirt of it, the tears of it, the frustration of it, Christmas, Easter, birthdays, growth charts, pediatrician appointments. I loved all of it.

  Jane Elliott

  Christmas, Mom, Easter

  "Jane Elliot Dishes Her Role as General Hospital's Queen of Mean". Interview with Michael Logan, www.tvguide.com. May 15, 2012.

  27 Copy quote

• Age is how we determine how valuable you are.

  Jane Elliott

  Age, 30th Birthday, Valuable

  25 Copy quote

• I don't have a Twitter account. I don't go to fan club gatherings. I'm not one of those actors who spends a lot of time engaging with the audience.

  Jane Elliott

  Clubs, Fans, Gathering

  "Jane Elliot Dishes Her Role as General Hospital's Queen of Mean". Interview with Michael Logan, www.tvguide.com. May 15, 2012.

  13 Copy quote

• I think I'm the only 65-year-old actress in Los Angeles who hasn't had plastic surgery, so somebody's gotta play the old-lady parts!

  Jane Elliott

  Thinking, Play, Years

  "Jane Elliot Dishes Her Role as General Hospital's Queen of Mean". Interview with Michael Logan, www.tvguide.com. May 15, 2012.

  19 Copy quote

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