Barbara Beckwith

The term racism often leads to dead-end debates about whether a particular remark or action by an individual white person was really racist or not. The term White Supremacy gives white people a clear choice of supporting or opposing a system, rather than getting bogged down in claims to be anti-racist (or not) in their personal behavior. – Elizabeth “Betita” Martinez, Chicana activist, De Colores Means All of Us, 1998Let me be a free man, free to travel, free to stop, free to work, free to trade where I choose, free to choose my own teachers, free to follow the religion of my fathers, free to talk, think, and act for myself. Whenever the white men treats the Indian as they treat each other then we shall have no wars. – Chief Joseph, Nez Perce, 1879

An understanding of White Privilege ultimately unmasks a dirty secret kept hidden by White Americans: much of what they have attained is unearned, and even if they are not overtly racist, Whites cannot choose to relinquish benefits from it. – Derald Wing Sue, psychologist, author of Overcoming Our Racism, 2003

One is astonished in the study of history at the recurrence of the idea that evil must be forgotten, distorted, skimmed over. We must not remember that Daniel Webster got drunk but only that he was a splendid constitutional lawyer. We must forget that George Washington was a slave owner .. and simply remember the things we regard as creditable and inspiring. The difficulty, of course, with this philosophy is that history loses its value as an incentive and example: it paints perfect man and noble nations, but it does not tell the truth. – W.E.B. DuBois, The Souls of Black Folk, 1903

While many of us regard ourselves as powerless, the fact is that all of us have some sphere of influence in which we can work for change, even if it’s just in our own network of family and friends. – Beverly Daniel Tatum, psychologist, Why Are the Black Kids Sitting on the Other Side of the Cafeteria? 2003

The white man in the presence of the Indian is still mystified by his uncanny ability to make him feel uncomfortable. This may be the image the white man has created of the Indian; his “savageness” has boomeranged and isn’t a mystery; it is fear; fear of the Indian’s temperament. – Wamsutta (Frank B.) James, Wampanoag, 1970

The solution to racism lies in our ability to see its ubiquity but not to concede to its inevitability. – Patricia Williams, Seeing a Color-blind Future: The Paradox of Race, 1998

Whiteness in a racist, corporate controlled society is like having the image of an American Express Card .. stamped on one’s face: immediately you are “universally accepted.” – Manning Marable, Beyond Black and White, 1997

Where is the heart of America? I am one of the many thousands of young men born under the American Flag, raised as a loyal idealistic American under your promise of equality for all. Once here we are met by exploiters, shunted into slums, greeted by gamblers and prostitutes, taught only the worst of your civilization. – Manuel Buaken, Filipino-American writer, 1940

There are no winners and losers in the battle against racism. Its defeat is not a victory for one particular group, but for society as a whole, and for all of us as human beings. – Project Hip-Hop, 1997

Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated. – Martin Luther King Jr , Stride Toward Freedom : The Montgomery Story, 1958

We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. – Martin Luther King Jr., Lincoln Memorial speech, 1963

My father … would say that the men who burned our farm were not three white men. They were individuals with hatred and jealousy in their hearts. He implored us not to label or stereotype anyone based on the color of their skin. My father further wanted us not to become embittered by others people’s hatred because it would poison our lives as it had the lives of those men. – Armstrong Williams, radio talk show host, 1997

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

For me, forgiveness and compassion are always linked: how do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed? – bell hooks, feminist scholar and social activist, Killing Rage, Ending Racism, 1996

Let sincere white individuals find all other white people they can who feel as they do — and let them form their own all-white groups, to work trying to convert other white people who are thinking and acting so racist … We will meanwhile be working among our own kind … Working separately, the sincere white people and sincere black people actually will be working together. – Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, 1965

Daddy taught me that racism was a sickness and to have compassion for racist whites as I would have compassion for a polio victim. Racism wasn’t a problem with me, he told me, it was a problem they had. – Andrew Young, civil rights leader, 1996

You’re either part of the solution or you’re part of the problem. – Eldridge Cleaver, Soul on Ice, 1968

We have long since grown accustomed to thinking of Blacks as being “racially disadvantaged.” Rarely, however, do we refer to Whites as “racially advantaged,” even though that is an equally apt characterization of the existing inequality. – Harlon Dalton, Racial Healing: Confronting the Fear Between Blacks & Whites, 1996

The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people. – Cesar Chavez, union organizer, 1960s-70s

Every person who quietly goes along with or benefits from prejudice is responsible for that prejudice. – Muhammad Ali, heavyweight champion boxer, 1996We know what the problem is; it has been well outlined statistically and historically. The problem is white racism. The problem is discrimination. The problem is racial prejudice. Now, what is the answer to the problems of black people? The answer is the will and power of white society and white institutions to change. – Charles H. King, Jr, civil rights activist, 1983

It does no service to the cause of racial equality for white people to content themselves with judging themselves to be nonracist. Few people outside the Klan or skinhead movements own up to all-out racism these days. White people must take the extra step. They must become anti-racist. – Clarence Page, columnist, 1996

The importance of doing activist work is precisely because it allows you to give back and to consider yourself not as a single individual who may have achieved whatever but to be a part of an ongoing historical movement. – Angela Y. Davis, socialist and political activist, Women, Race and Class, 1983

Malcolm X was the first real black spokesperson who looked ferocious white racism in the eye, didn’t blink, and lived long enough to tell America the truth about this glaring hypocrisy in a bold and defiant manner. — Cornel West, Race Matters, 1994 

If I were standing in front of a whole room full of white people, I would tell them that I expect them to eliminate racism. I expect them to go out and intervene whenever they see racism going on. And I expect them to be as outraged as I am about racism. I would tell them that they’ve got to end it. They’ve got to end it. – Hugh Vasquez, “Color of Fear” documentary, 1994 

If I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things you don’t see. – James Baldwin, writer 

You don’t really want Black folks, you are just looking for yourself with a little color in it. – Bernice Johnson Reagon, Sweet Honey in the Rock a cappella singing group, 1983 

Young people these days … want to keep it real. And keeping it real means, in fact, understanding that the white supremacy you thought you could push back permeates every nook and cranny of this nation so deeply that you ought to wake up and recognize how deep it is. – Harry Bellafonte, singer and actor, 1997

There are many persons ready to do what is right because in their hearts they know it is right. But they hesitate, waiting for the other fellow to make the first move — and he, in turn, waits for you. The minute a person whose word means a great deal dares to take the open-hearted and courageous way, many others follow. – Marian Anderson, opera singer, 1939