Racism In America Quotes

• In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.

  Toni Morrison

  Inspirational, Country, Mean

  The Guardian, January 29, 1992.

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• There should be a class on drugs. There should be a class on sex education-a real sex education class-not just pictures and diaphragms and 'un-logical' terms and things like that.....there should be a class on scams, there should be a class on religious cults, there should be a class on police brutality, there should be a class on apartheid, there should be a class on racism in America, there should be a class on why people are hungry, but there are not, there are classes on gym, physical education, let's learn volleyball.

  Tupac Shakur

  Volleyball, Religious, Sex

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• If we accept and acquiesce in the face of discrimination, we accept the responsibility ourselves. We should, therefore, protest openly everything ... that smacks of discrimination or slander.

  Mary McLeod Bethune

  Peace, Responsibility, Racism

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• What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.

  Carter G. Woodson

  Religious, Hate, Race

  Carter G. Woodson (2008). “Negro Makers of History”, p.20, Wildside Press LLC

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• You don't fight racism with racism, the best way to fight racism is with solidarity.

  Bobby Seale

  Fighting, Racism, Brotherhood

  "Black Panther Co-Founder Bobby Seale condemns Boston terrorism in exclusive interview". Interview with Alan Carlos Hernandez, www.heralddeparis.com. April 22, 2013.

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• Telling me that I’m obsessed with talking about racism in America is like telling me I’m obsessed with swimming when I’m drowning.

  Hari Kondabolu

  Swimming, America, Talking

  "Hari Kondabolu on Why You Can't Be 'Obsessed With Race' in America" by Jamilah King, www.colorlines.com. February 6, 2014.

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• I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color.

  Malcolm X

  Respect, Believe, Color

  Malcolm X (1992). “By any means necessary”, Pathfinder Pr

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• I swear to the Lord, I still can't see, why Democracy means, everybody but me.

  Langston Hughes

  Mean, Racism, Political

  "The Black Man Speaks" l. 1 (1943)

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• Racism as a form of skin worship, and as a sickness and a pathological anxiety for America, is so great, until the poor whites -- rather than fighting for jobs or education -- fight to remain pink and fight to remain white. And therefore they cannot see an alliance with people that they feel to be inherently inferior.

  Jesse Jackson

  Jobs, Fighting, White

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• Concerning non-violence: it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks.

  Malcolm X

  Men, Racism, Gun Control

  "Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements". Book by George Breitman (p. 22), 1965.

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• The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color-line, -- the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea.

  W. E. B. Du Bois

  Men, Islands, Race

  The Souls of Black Folk ch. 2 (1903)

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• The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line.

  W. E. B. Du Bois

  Color, Racism, Lines

  The Souls of Black Folk ch. 2 (1903)

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• Excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism.

  Oprah Winfrey

  Success, Dream, Xenophobia

  Twitter post from Aug 14, 2011

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• I have nothing to do with racism in America; it was here when I got here.

  Paul Mooney

  America, Racism

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• For many years, I believed racism in America was dead and that opportunity existed for all. My beliefs were shaken when the Rodney King officers were acquitted.

  John Hope Bryant

  Kings, Opportunity, Years

  Source: www.ebony.com

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• All of you are aware of the tragic history of racism in America, but for a very long time, African-Americans and their white allies came together and they struggled and they stood up for justice and they stood up to lynching and they stood up to segregation and the stood up to a nation where African-Americans couldn't even vote in America.

  Bernie Sanders

  White, America, Lynching

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• There is a bunch of racism in America, and sadly, most of it's on the left side of the aisle.

  Rush Limbaugh

  America, Racism, Sides

  Source: www.rushlimbaugh.com

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• Part of our identity is the idea that racism is still there and that we are vulnerable to it. So, the question is, 'How vulnerable?' In other words, is it really a problem for us, or is it just a small thing. How do you evaluate racism in America on a scale of 1 to 10? My suspicion is that most blacks overrate it a bit. Not to say it's not there, but we overrate it because this masking is part of our relationship to the larger society. This is a way we keep whites on the hook. We keep them obligated, and we keep ourselves entitled. There's an incentive, you see, to inflate it a little bit.

  Shelby Steele

  Ideas, America, Racism

  "Shelby Steele: The Why Obama Can’t Win Interview". Interview with Kam Williams, www.kamwilliams.com. February 27, 2008.

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• I found there's a fairly blatant racism in America that's already there, and I don't think I noticed it when I lived here as a kid. But when I went back to South Africa, and then it's sort of thrust in your face, and then came back here - I just see it everywhere.

  Dave Matthews

  Kids, Thinking, America

  "U.S. racism 'everywhere,' says Dave Matthews". Interview with Denise Quan, www.cnn.com. September 21, 2009.

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