James Baldwin Quotes

What characterizes a member of a minority group is that he is forced to see himself as both exceptional and insignificant, marvelous and awful, good and evil.

I usually play disenfranchised youth.

Unrestrained liberalism only makes the strong stronger and the weak weaker and excludes the most excluded.

I grew up with white parents, and until after college, it was a lot of confusion, especially because I grew up in an all-white area. So I never looked around and saw anyone who looked like me.

Bill Cosby is a famous black guy who has a bully pulpit the size of the world; it's global. He puts his colossal foot on the vulnerable necks of poor people, and as a result of that, we don't have a balanced conversation.

Throughout this country's history there have of course been systematic efforts to create an official underclass.

All the households of the poor are not equally submissive

I know that some people, when they are growing up and they - as a person of color in a majority community - that they may feel as if they are left out, or they feel a bit strange.

I think women and children and older people are the three least-respected groups in our society.

Any time something goes wrong, Republicans pick on women and minorities.

I hate systemic oppression in America.

There was certainly, like, a rebellious, like, youthful rage in me. And there was also the fact of no getting away from fact that I am white, and you know, this is predominantly black music, you know.

The rich stick together; the poor and the marginalised are thrown together.

Society is better off without certain people.

What people don't know about oppression is that the oppressor works much harder. You always grew up being told you were not smart enough or not fast enough, but we all lived from the time we were children to beat the system.

In a change of masters the poor change nothing except their master's name.

I think people really need to think what it's like to have all of society arrayed against you.

I really wanted to be born a woman. It all started there. A South American woman. And I'm upset that I was born a white Jewish male. I've been angry since.

If I feel any marginalisation, it's because the things that concern me aren't so important to other people.

I was made fun of in the Midwest - I was the only Asian in my graduating class of 200. Fortunately, I found my niche, and it was fine. But I wanted to be so white, you wouldn't believe it. I was like, 'I want to be white; I don't want to be this anymore.' But now I embrace it.

When you use the term minority or minorities in reference to people, you're telling them that they're less than somebody else.

Women are treated differently by society for exactly the same reason that children and the mentally handicapped are treated differently.

These political movements flourish on the margins of Turkish society because of poverty and because of the people's feeling that they are not being represented.

As a Londoner I was able to see how the world of power and money cast its shadow on those who failed.

Why do you all push us around?