Octavia Spencer Quotes

You know, I'm from the South, and I wasn't interested in perpetuating a stereotypical southern character.

It's not enough to just not be racist. You've got to be anti-racist. You've got to hold everybody accountable.

I was raised with this idea that we're supposed to be tolerant of other people's opinions, but then what happens if other people's opinions are racist and hateful and wrong?

I would like to get rid of the homophobes, sexists, and racists in our audience. I know they're out there and it really bothers me.

Once I was, yes. But now I have turned my direction away from anything that's racist.

Professional Southerners sicken me.

I am not a racist in any form whatsoever. I don't believe in any form of discrimination or segregation.

I think we typically, as Northerners, stereotype what the South is in so many negative ways. We kind of forget all the beautiful things that they contribute to make this country a country.

We beg you to save young America from the blight of race prejudice. Do not bind the children within the narrow circles of your own lives.

I'm not going to sit here now and say 'do this,' or 'do that.' But you must - must - expunge any vestige of racism.

For as long as the power of America's diversity is diminished by acts of discrimination and violence against people just because they are black, Hispanic, Asian, Jewish, Muslim or gay, we still must overcome.

Defeating racism, tribalism, intolerance and all forms of discrimination will liberate us all, victim and perpetrator alike.

You know, Southerners are pretty cool.

I never apologize for the truth. And the truth here is that racists come in many different colors.

I think as a whole America is dealing with the issue of homophobia. We got to be really honest about whether we believe in civil rights for all people or not. As Black people we need to remember the moment that we say it's okay to disenfranchise one segment of society, we're opening the door to move backward on ourselves.

It's hard to say when or if we will actually arrive at that place called 'post-racial', or, better yet, post-racism.

To live anywhere in the world today and be against equality because of race or color, is like living in Alaska and being against snow.

I found no better way of dealing with the race problem as to interact with all other people as if discrimination did not exist.

I am an enemy of racism

In the long run it is more important to us as a nation to show the world that we believe in equality of opportunity, that we realize that any kind of segregation is discrimination whether it comes about because of race, color, or creed, and that we are determined to show the world that we believe in the things we preach.

We suspect that 25 years from now the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary.

No American should ever live under the cloud of suspicion because of what they look like.

The whole issue of race and discrimination is a moral issue.

I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

I don't think well of people who are prejudiced against people because of race. The only way for prejudiced people to change is for them to decide for themselves that all human beings should be treated fairly. We can't force them to think that way.