Quotes About Race

In this country, we force millions of people - who are largely black and brown - into a permanent second-class status simply because they once committed a crime.

I'm surprised that more people don't emulate Rachel Dolezal and pretend to be black or members of some other minority. Our gullible society rushes to reward such status, often with jobs and money.

There's a two-tier justice system. And anyone who denies it is either naive or in denial. This is what the reality of America is. If you have certain privileges, if you're from a certain socioeconomic status, you have a certain skin color, the odds are in your favor.

The criminal justice system should have the authority to determine the immigration status of all criminals, regardless of race or ethnicity, and report illegal immigrants who commit crimes to federal authorities.

African Americans are concerned about the scourge of abortion in their community, and respond to related facts and figures. Large majorities agree that every life should have a chance, regardless of race, socioeconomic status or circumstance.

No woman anywhere should be denied access to quality healthcare because of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.

It's interesting that we assign the label 'political' to art that doesn't just fit a mould of status quo. Is 'Downton Abbey' not political? That's political! Every piece of art offers a perspective on the world. And what is politics if not a perspective on the world? 'Downton Abbey' is about class. It's also about race.

I'm all for philosophical debates about race, but if you look at history, you see that the status quo has power when it's unchallenged. So these conversations about inequality are crucial.

I wasn't the only person out there writing about pop culture and race, but I stayed true to my voice, and people felt attracted to that. They said it felt like they were having brunch with their best friend.

All through the night, like the tumult of a river when it races between the cliffs of a canyon, in my sleep I could hear the steady roar of the passing army.

That's why I called my record Devil Without a Cause - I'm a white boy who's so sick of hearing that white kids are going to steal rap.

I learned that when I go in a store and a person of color goes in the store, that they might watch them because they're afraid they're gonna steal something. They're not gonna watch me because I'm white.

In the end, Obama won, stealing the change message from John Edwards and beating back Hillary Clinton's focus on experience. And the race turned on a remarkable speech Obama gave on the night of Nov. 10, 2007, in Des Moines.

When the football world is ready to adhere to the diversity codes so that BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) communities, plus women, get the opportunities in football then I'll see that as a step forward.

As African-Americans, we don't start with a blank slate, while other people may. In our position, there's always some sort of stereotype that is being scrutinized or that is being assumed when we come through the curtain.

There's always been a quiet conversation and joke that if you're not hard, if you're not from impoverished neighborhoods, if you're not certain constructs of a black stereotype, then you not black.

When you're a large black man in Hollywood, the obvious stereotype is one of force and menace.

I think there's definitely a stereotype of white privilege, and that stereotype gets expanded to mean rich, not oppressed, not suffering, et cetera. And yes, it's a misperception.

Why is it kind of acceptable to say that the Germans are better at penalties, but not that blacks are better at boxing? Is it simply that you're allowed to stereotype a group perceived as oppressive, but not one perceived as oppressed - which is why it's fine for women columnists constantly to rail against men, but never the other way round?

Then there are disturbing reports like the recent study showing that, in terms of wealth, black and Hispanic college graduates actually "fared significantly worse" in the late recession than did members of those groups who hadn't gone to college. The people in question were the ones who did everything right, who went through life the way our society instructs us to, and they were punished for it.

A final point is the fact that discrimination based on presumed inborn and immutable characteristics (race) tends to be stronger and more inflexible than ethnic discrimination which is not based on 'racial' differences. Members of a presumed race cannot change their assumed inherited traits, while ethnic groups can change their culture and, ultimately,

More to the point, they get to make their mistakes as individuals and not as representatives of an entire race.

We had become a race of eccentrics and openly declared an array of singular whims and suspicions, at least while daylight allowed this audacity.

Paradoxically, it is the uncommon event that may best demonstrate the common predicament of our race.