Quotes About Representation

You can't discuss everything with a male director.

Obviously I would never have agreed to be a part of something that would change the colour of my skin had I been playing a human. The bottom line is, I'm playing a cat. There is no more discussion. I am a cat that's white, let's not read into it.

Beauty has always been an element of discussion for black women, whether or not we were the ones having the conversation.

I really dislike the fact that Asian males are constantly emasculated, whether it's American TV or films. You see it all the time, and it's so weird that they don't see sexuality in Asian men.

Only the public that elected me can dismiss me.

My job is to show our humanity, and the only way to be leading with that sort of humanity is to lead with the problems that a family like this might be encountering and putting those on display.

As revolutionary, I have no right to disregard the voice of the people.

I draw a very clear distinction between populism and democracy.

You're playing a character in a drama who happens to be based on someone who existed. It's never going to 'be' that person, but it's based on someone well-known, and you want to create enough of that person for it not to be a distraction.

The majority of people are straight, and movies, with their bigger budgets and burdensome marketing costs, will try to appeal to as many people as they can. As the means of production and distribution become more democratized with advances in technology, more gay stories will make their way to the mainstream.

I was much more comfortable and a much better congressman running in a district that was 37 percent black, where I had to have a white constituency to get elected, than I would have been if I was in a 75 percent black district.

When you nominate for a seat, the expectation is that you serve that district and serve that seat if you are elected.

I like having a battleground district because I think that's real-life America.

It's nice to be a woman, and it's nice to be an Asian. But what's more important is what I can bring back to my district.

PACs don't vote in the district; people do.

Every decision I make in Congress will be centered on the needs of the district.

When I make decisions, it's not based on what the Republican Party does. I'm elected by the 9th congressional district.

Politicians always do a two-step, depending on what their district politics looks like.

One of the rules of running for Congress is no matter where you go, you speak like you're speaking to the whole district.

Spend a while listening to people in your district to make sure you understand how they are served well in government and how they could be served better.

My job is to represent my district. That's who I'm responsible to and for.

The more conservative the district, the more conservative the member should be.

I will keep working with both parties in the House to get things done for people in our District.

When I came to Washington, I believed that I had one duty, one purpose. I was elected to serve my district, my people and no one else. Since arriving in Congress, I've learned that not everyone shares this philosophy.