H. Rap Brown Quotes

Class still matters in Britain today.

Colour is not the issue in America; class is.

They cannot divide us by saying that you're middle class or you're lower class.

Is the great working class oppressed? Yes, undoubtedly it is. God has intended the great to be great and the little to be little.

The middle class is always a firm champion of equality when it concerns a class above it; but it is its inveterate foe when it concerns elevating a class below it.

I don't think equality is intrinsically valuable, meaning in and of itself. I'm not against inequality... if Bill Gates gets another hundred million dollars, it's no skin off my nose.

And understand: class differences will not save you.

Class is real. It can't be faked.

And I am interested in the fact that class is very much a factor in America, even though it's not supposed to be.

Class - or the economic status of individuals - is evident in all societies, some very well stratified by a rigid caste system determined by birth.

If there's an enduring theme in my work, it's probably the effects of class on American life.

There are only two classes - first class and no class.

The messenger matters. When people of modest means complain about inequality, it usually gets written off as class warfare, but when billionaires complain, the problem is redefined.

It has often been said, that there is but one rank of men in America… we have no artificial distinctions of men into noblemen and commoners among us, but it ought to be remarked, that superior degrees of industry and capacity, and above all, commerce, have introduced inequality of property among us, and these have introduced natural distinctions of rank in Pennsylvania, as certain and general as the artificial distinctions of men in Europe. This will ever be the case while commerce exists in this country.

An imbalance between the rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.

The rich don’t want the poor to get ahead of them.

The prime culprit in causing contemporary social inequality seems to be merit.

There are no great lords who possess everything and a herd of people who have nothing

The ignorance of the working class and the superior intelligence of the privileged class are superstitions fostered by ... universities and churches, and by all the centers of privilege.

Everybody wants to talk about black and white, when the situation is really about rich people against poor people.

What I see happening to this country is a neo-caste system.

So long as there are nobles and commoners, the wealthy and the poor, those with power will be heard, and those without ignored. That's the world.

Meritocracy is a system of segregation.

I reject absolutely the idea that people should know their place, and know their class.

In 1750, 75 percent of people on the planet worked to support the top 25 percent.