Quotes About Prejudice

I reckoned my accent and class would count against me; I didn't see actresses as being working-class.

Before the Civil War, the Negro was certainly as efficient a workman as the raw immigrant from Ireland or Germany. But, whereas the Irishmen found economic opportunity wide and daily growing wider, the Negro found public opinion determined to 'keep him in his place.'

Education is important because, first of all, people need to know that discrimination still exists. It is still real in the workplace, and we should not take that for granted.

If I have to jump six feet to get the same thing that you have to jump two feet for - that's how racism works.

The problem is that television executives have got it into their heads that if one presenter on a show is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed heterosexual boy, the other must be a either black gay or a lesbian. Chalk and cheese, they reckon, works.

Racists seem obsessed by the idea that illegal workers - the hardest-working, poorest people in America - are somehow getting away with something, sneaking goodies that should be for Americans. You can always avoid this problem by having no social services. This is the refreshing Texas model, and it works a treat.

People never believe it when they find out I'm a karate world champion. They don't see me as the type because I'm small and blonde.

People have been very quick to judge young black players on their lifestyles and then when they go on to win the World Cup, to take league titles or score goals they're all of a sudden changed men. They haven't changed, people are just choosing to see them in a different way.

I just don't know why anyone would ever think that women's football is a step down and that coaching World Cup champions, winners, players that have represented their countries in the Olympics or European championships is a step down from anything.

In this rat-race everybody's guilty till proved innocent!

White man get money - stay rich, kids get rich. Black man get money - it's the countdown till, 'When is this brother gonna go broke?' I'm not going broke.

People are always asking me if the industry is changing, and my answer is always that it is changing only as much as we are. Many South Asian actors complain about being pigeonholed into playing terrorists and cab drivers, but it's time that we stop talking about it. The industry will always say 'No' till we have enough to convince them.

To me, racism is so played out and corny and stupid, especially in music, where you now have Nelly doing songs with Tim McGraw, on the hit single 'Over and Over.' Anyone who thinks about that just needs to get a life.

I think for such a long time people had this misconception of who I was and what I was about.

I know what people think I am. People think I'm dumb. People think I party all the time. People think I'm ignorant.

I've done a lot of research about the Civil Rights movement, and I'm fascinated with how difficult it would have been for a black man to show feelings toward a white woman in that time period.

When you put a tiny and despised minority up for a popular vote, the minority usually loses.

There are certain expectations placed on writers if other people have put a value on their gender. I'm aware of the hundreds of tiny differences that happen when people are seeing your gender before they see something else.

London cabs always dis me. I purposefully give them a good tip because I'm trying to straighten up the image where they don't want to pick up some shady-looking, bummy kid like myself. I'm trying to teach them that if you pick up the bummy-looking kid, you still get tipped, man. But they still jerk me around.

It is frustrating when in an interview people say: 'Give us your make-up tips' and 'How do you stay skinny?' I think: 'Do you ask a guy that?'

It's funny, after a while, you get tired of having to fight someone because they don't like the way you look.

I am so tired of ruggedly handsome heroes. I don't know too many ruggedly handsome people who are necessarily nice people. In fact, the beautiful people have a big handicap because they rely too much on their appearance and don't bother to become interesting.

I think it's a problem when journalists have the title of their article before they do the interview, because it biases the way they conduct it.

What we really have to do is stop the adjective before the job title - whether it's 'black actor,' a 'gay actor' or anything actor.