Justin Simien Quotes

It's no surprise that White people say things when they are together about Black people.

Why is the world that I see around me mixed, and why is the world I see in movies filled with all white people? Why does it have to be like that?

Early on, I played a Chinese delivery person, and even that, which was very innocuous, felt like I was somehow betraying myself. I felt very self-conscious on set doing that role, with a crew that was almost entirely white.

The broad brush of stereotyping is what least appeals to people of color.

If you're going to make black movies only about black people, that's as bad as white movies only about white people.

Hollywood's racist.

The truth of the matter is, I am a black woman, and I am an actor. I don't try to get caught up in being a black actor; I'm just an actor who is a black woman. It's not about forgetting that you're black, but you don't need to be hammered over the head, either; it just is what it is.

The way Hollywood and TV is, black people don't have any choice but to see ourselves in white-dominated television shows and stories and movies.

I am not going to say that only people of color can write people of color, because that means only white people can write white people, and that's not OK.

There are so many shows that are 'white,' and we wanted to talk about how two really delusional, cliche white girls handle racial issues.

That something that I fought so hard for throughout the beginning of my career is I didn't want to pancake my skin a lighter color to fit into the... ballet. I wanted to be myself. I didn't want to have to wear makeup that made my nose look thinner.

Hollywood had a history of whitewashing and not representing.

There are some white people who are very unhappy that I am in an interracial relationship.

I'm Colombian. My family all have different complexions; some are people of color. I've been called every name by white people, been mocked for speaking in Spanish by white people.

Sean Connery wasn't the Scottish James Bond and Daniel Craig wasn't the blue-eyed James Bond. So if I played him, I don't want to be called the black James Bond.

The truth is, no, we don't live in a post-racial state anywhere in America, and this is particularly true in Hollywood.

In Australia, there just weren't strong roles for actors of colour. I was often being asked to turn up for commercials with a ghetto blaster on my shoulder. I thought, 'Are we in the '60s?'

I think a lot of times stereotypes come when there are disconnected white writers who maybe have two or three black friends, and they write black characters, and they put them in situations that are ridiculous.

I think that show will go down in history... people will scratch their heads and say 'How did this ever get on the air?' I mean, they finally have a planet that's populated with a black race and then they present them as savage warriors, and the men want the white girl!

I hate white people writing for black people; it's so offensive. So we go out and look specifically for African-American voices.

When I first started, all the media I ever got was, 'Hey! There's this Indian girl. And even though she is Indian, she gets views and stuff.'

I realized there was racism because people thought, 'Oh, if you like roll 'n' roll, that makes you like a white kid.'

I used to go to some Harvard parties with my athlete friends, and they would introduce me as 'Winona, the Indian activist.' It made me uncomfortable. I felt like a novelty.

When I say, I don't care what white people think, I mean that.

White people are very good at acting like they're not racist. They deserve an Academy Award for that.