Quotes about Racism
There were those who argued that government should not interject itself into civil society, that no law could force white people to associate with blacks. Upon hearing these arguments, Dr. King replied, "It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me but it can keep him from lynching me and I think that is pretty important, also.
— Barack Obama
One can lynch a person without a rope or tree.
— James H. Cone
Racism keeps people who are being managed from finding out the truth through contact with each other.
— Shirley Chisholm
When I looked at the white people who were doing this, consciously or not, it made me angry because so many of them were baser, less intelligent, less talented than the people they were lording it over. But the whites were in control. We could do nothing about it. We had no power. That was the way society was. I perceived that this was the way it was meant to be: things were organized to keep those who were on top up there. The country was racist all the way through.
— Shirley Chisholm
Richard Nixon won in forty-nine states by, for one thing, appealing to the inherent racism of the American people. Voters saw him—a Harris poll two months after the election showed this plainly—as the candidate who would put a stop to school busing and the encroachment of blacks and other minorities on white jobs
— Shirley Chisholm
Will part of this nation rejoice at seeing the rest oppressed, and reward a leader who has cunningly manipulated its fears and prejudices? Or will a majority of voters insist on a leader . . . who will appeal to their birthright of idealism and their love of justice, instead of to their heritage of racism and special privilege?
— Shirley Chisholm
If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult.
— Maya Angelou
Did he insult you? I mean us, the race? Not directly. Like most white racists, he was paternalistic. I would have preferred he slap me than that he talk down upon me. Then I could retaliate in kind.
— Maya Angelou
Democrats know 'racism' doesn't exist, but they use it to silence white conservatives and to instill fear in blacks and motivate them to vote.
— Jesse Lee Peterson
How can men boast that they control their own destiny when they cannot solve the problems of war, racism, poverty, sickness, or suffering?
— Billy Graham
Racism is not first and foremost a skin problem. It is a sin problem. See, when you believe that racism is a skin problem, you can take three hundred years of slavery, court decisions, marches, and the federal government involvement and still not get it fixed right.
— Tony Evans
In America, racism is our oldest curse. But there are other divides—over religion, immigration, sexual identity. Sometimes the "them" strategy is just a narcotic to feed the beast in all of us.
— Bill Clinton