Quotes About Race

Mike Brown wasn't about race relations, nor Trayvon Martin or even Hurricane Katrina for that matter. It's about trust.

The great drama at the core of American race relations is always the same: Can black Americans ever be truly equal - are they capable of achieving it and are others capable of accepting it?

The growth of race relations management, diversity training and 'promoting good relations' has come at a cost. We are more sensitized to racism, yet far less confident in talking to each other as human beings with similar hopes, problems and aspirations.

We definitely experience racism in England and different levels of oppression as well. Anywhere affected by colonialism there's certain kinds of race relations and class relations going on.

I think we are progressing with race relations but assumptions hold us back.

When the Negro cries with pain from his deep hurt and lays his petition for elemental justice before the nation, he is calling upon the American people to kindle about that crucible of race relationships the fires of American faith.

One lady told me that before she saw 'Sounder' she didn't believe black people could love each other, have deep relationships in the same way as white people.

Most comics point out what everyone else is thinking but hadn't thought of verbalizing. I guess, in a way, that makes most comics seers. It just depends in what category - some choose to be the seers of relationships, some are seers of racial issues, and some are seers of political issues.

Mass media over-represents persons of color in negative ways, especially as criminals, relative to the share of crime actually done by such persons.

I like to relax a lot the night before a race. I like having people around me. I don't like being on my own, particularly. Music helps psych you up, too.

Sometimes I shoot out of bed like it's a relay race, and I'm on the phone, leaving voice mails.

A lot of the things I do deal with my race, but my race is who I am. I'm an American kid who grew up listening to predominantly hip-hop. I will talk about hip-hop as the music I grew up listening to, and I think sometimes people like to put it as, 'Oh, well, he's talking about black things.' And, yeah, they are, but that's my American identity.

People of color grow up steeped in 'white' culture. The reverse is not true. And, no, listening to hip-hop on the way to work does not count as immersion.

It's fair to say that white America wouldn't have elected an African-American president without the integrating effect of black music - from Louis Armstrong to hip-hop - and black drama and fiction, commercial as much as 'serious.'

I'd heard he was good, and what the hell sense does it make not to hire somebody because of their color?

I've been on predominantly 'white' shows before, and I had also been on predominantly 'black' shows. I would complain that when I was on a white show, they would only hire me because there was a black character or they needed a black voice. But then I would be mad if they went and hired a white dude in my position.

When I got out of acting school, I was lucky to have gotten any job at all. A lot of people hiring African American actresses - it was right after 'Roots,' and for society, not me, it was great. Nice richly dark-skinned people was the fashion, and I was not.

Even though I'm Hispanic, I'm so white.

A lot of my friends who are white are like, 'Dude, I can't get an audition; it's all Hispanic and black.' It's about time.

Do I think police chiefs, many of which are African-American or Hispanic, wake up and say, 'Let's systemically oppress African-American communities?' No, I don't. Are there instances in which that happens? I'm sure there are.

I've seen very few Hispanics and blacks who have been able to work their way into the advertising end of business.

As one of the very few black historians who, from time to time, appears on TV, my daily life is a constant, open-air focus group.

While the national highway system connects cities and facilitates economic activity across the nation, it's construction historically has been deeply destructive for many communities, particularly low-income communities and communities of color.

I sometimes think they should have said 'Black Lives Matter Too,' because that is really what is being said. The outcry is that historically and presently, the feeling is that black lives don't matter as much as white lives because we don't see the same type of things happening to them.