Ted Wheeler Quotes

We cannot rebuild the American Dream here at home by catering to the voices of the privileged and powerful.

White Americans today don't know what in the world to do because when they put us behind them, that's where they made their mistake... they put us behind them, and we watched every move they made.

What I know about this world is that white people will take care of themselves. And what I have learned is that if you are where they are on an equal basis, they cannot take care of themselves without taking care of you.

Poor privileged white men. Their stranglehold on power is slowly being loosened.

People in positions of power and privilege have a duty to perform at a higher level. If not them, then who?

Democracy is the fig leaf of elitism.

Like it or not, most things in this country are run by white males.

The essence of racism is prejudice coupled with power ... Our primary experience is one of white privilege, even in places where whites may be a minority in the surrounding population.

Power is always gradually stealing away from the many to the few, because the few are more vigilant and consistent.

I myself am a descendant of the European tribes, now called nations, that have established political, military, and economic dominance over the world. I confess to my sin of privilege and my reluctance to forego the perks my race and class afford me.

I would rather govern rich men than be rich myself; since for one man to abound in wealth and pleasure, when all about him are mourning and groaning, is to a jailer and not a king.

I'm not familiar particularly with Hillary Clinton's neighborhood, but I wish people were a little bit more curious about what we call privilege and about why it's there. Black people in this country have no choice but to be curious. We have to know. I wish folks would do a little bit more investigation.

America says we are a great democratic society and other people should follow our example. Well, I say we benefited from slavery, and as a nation, we never faced that because the people in power chose not to.

It's easier, as a white person, to be silent about racial injustice. It's easier. On paper. But it's not easier on the whole, because injustice affects all of us, whether we know it or not, whether we acknowledge it or not.

Racism has two primary functions: the oppression of people of color, which most people recognize, but also the simultaneous elevation of white people. You can't hold one group down without lifting the other up.

We need to dismantle the systems that were built on racism, that were built on the backs of black people.

White people are so fragile, God bless 'em. 'Well, I didn't own slaves.' No you didn't. Nobody is asking you to take personal responsibility for this. But you're a beneficiary of a system that did. Just own that and move on.

We don't need to go back in time and make America great again, because really, America was only great for certain people.

I'm so tired of making excuses for old white men.

The journey of making 'Hidden Figures' has shown me the automatic privilege that all white men are afforded in America in 2017 and in any and every year before that.

I'm a white male in power. In many cases, I'm the enemy.

Those who have the power and should be the most responsible are often the least responsible.

If whiteness were of no particular advantage, then having a fuller color wheel of skin tones would be purely a matter of celebration. But whiteness - just a drop of it - does still carry privilege. You learn that very young in America.

We're all complicit in the things we may be trying to oppose. I'm complicit in the things that I'm trying to oppose.

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.