Ethnic Identity Quotes

• A man's ethnic identity has more to do with a personal awareness than with geography.

  William Saroyan

  Men, Identity, Awareness

  "Inhale and Exhale". Book by William Saroyan, 1936.

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• I was confident about America and the idea that in America people can become American without masking their ethnic identity.

  Zbigniew Brzezinski

  Ideas, America, People

  "The World According to Zbig". Interview wih Charles Gati, www.politico.com. November 27, 2013.

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• My potential is more than can be expressed within the bounds of my race or ethnic identity.

  Arthur Ashe

  Sports, Race, Diversity

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• All over the world today people have a very strong desire to find a sense of identity, and at the same time that's coupled with the rise of absolutely absurd wars that relate to ethnic identity. Perhaps there is something deeply ingrained in people that relates to a sense of belonging, and without that, identity doesn't seem as real as it should.

  Jaron Lanier

  Strong, Real, War

  Source: www.psychologytoday.com

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• True peace must be anchored in justice and an unwavering commitment to universal rights for all humans, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender, national origin or any other identity attribute.

  Desmond Tutu

  Commitment, Rights, Ethnicity

  "Divesting From Injustice" by Desmond Tutu, www.huffingtonpost.com. June 13, 2010.

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• 

  Start where you are, use what you have.

  Arthur Ashe

  Inspirational, Motivational, Positive

  "7 Most Touching Moments from Michael Sam's ESPY Arthur Ashe Award Speech" by Colleen Curry, abcnews.go.com. July 17, 2014.

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• Racism is not an excuse to not do the best you can.

  Arthur Ashe

  Racism, Black History, African American

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• If you're paid before you walk on the court, what's the point in playing as if your life depended on it?

  Arthur Ashe

  Life, Sports, Court

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• I do believe, separate and apart from any particular election or movement, that we are going to have to guard against a rise in a crude sort of nationalism or ethnic identity or tribalism that is built around an us and a them.

  Barack Obama

  Believe, Identity, Movement

  Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece in Joint Press Conference, Maximos Mansion, Athens, Greece, obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. November 15, 2016.

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• I started asking friends, my white friends around, I said, "What's something that you think all Asians have in common?" They almost always immediately said, "Slanted eyes." I thought that's really interesting. No. 1, it simply isn't true. Not all Asian Americans have slanted eyes, and of course, Asians aren't the only ethnic identities to have them. No. 2, we could talk about our slant on life and what it's like to be people of color, while at the same time, using this outdated and obscure racial slur, and turning it on its head.

  Simon Tam

  Eye, Thinking, Color

  Source: www.slate.com

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• I try to find the core values that are so fundamental that they transcend ethnic identity. That doesn't mean I run from it. I embrace African-American culture and I love it and embrace it, but it is a part of a human identity. So I'm always trying to make a larger human statement.

  Wynton Marsalis

  Running, Mean, Always Trying

  "Wynton Marsalis gives spirited take on jazz with 'Abyssinian Mass'". Interview with Jeremy D. Goodwin, www.bostonglobe.com. October 24, 2013.

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• It is important to remember that the Pacific Ocean covers a quarter of the world's surface and that each Pacific country has its own cultural, historical and ethnic identity.

  Jenny Shipley

  Country, Ocean, Historical

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• There was [ in New York] - some of it was this perception of the Midwest that I realized in this multicultural city that - and I don't think it's as true as it was - but everyone was kind of like, what, are you Jewish? Are you Italian? What are you? You know, are you black? Are you da-da-da? Are you Puerto Rican? And so I ended up - my ethnic identity was Midwestern, was white bread. And so it informed a lot of my stand-up.

  Jim Gaffigan

  New York, Thinking, Italian

  Source: www.npr.org

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• There is less pressure on abandoning native communities: what for? There is nothing to be gained by it. On one hand, there are plenty tempting opportunities of experimenting with identities - being one kind of person today and a different the next day. On the other hand, there is little pressure to include the ethnic identity or religious identity into this mechanism, because now everybody is in a kind of Diaspora today.

  Zygmunt Bauman

  Religious, Opportunity, Hands

  Interview with Marcelo Dimentstein, Alberto Senderey, Andy Spokoiny and Shira Shnitzer, leatid.org. February 2009.

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• In 1933-34, the Belgians conducted a census in order to issue ‘ethnic’ identity cards, which labelled every Rwandan as either Hutu (85%) of Tutsi (14%) or Twa (1%). The identity cards made it virtually impossible for Hutus to become Tutsis, and permitted the Belgians to perfect the administration of an apartheid system rooted in the myth of Tutsi superiority… Whatever Hutu and Tutsi identity may have stood for in the pre-colonial state no longer mattered; the Belgians had made ‘ethnicity’ the defining feature of Rwandan existence.

  Philip Gourevitch

  Ethnicity, Order, Issues

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• Recent events in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina have reaffirmed for me, however, the complete folly of any Republican strategy to increase black representation in the Republican Party by appeals based on race. Whatever the name- 'African American Outreach' or 'Black Republicans for Bush'- any effort to attract blacks or any other ethnic group to the Republican party, based on explicit or implicit appeals to race or ethnic identity, are not only a waste of time and resources, but are also misguided and potentially quite damaging to the nation.

  Ward Connerly

  Party, Names, Race

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