Gloria Steinem Quotes

I want to live in a world that is less white supremacist, straight supremacist, male supremacist.

I've written 18 books, mostly dealing with issues of social justice, ending racism, feminism, and cultural criticism.

There's sort of a persistent misperception that talking about race is black folk's burden. Ultimately, only men can end sexism, and only white people can end racism.

I can't explain exactly why it lives within me for so long and passionately. But race matters to me; racial equality matters to me, as does gender. There is something about these kinds of social injustices that go to the deep of me.

That I am a national figure because I was the first person in 192 years to be at once a congressman, black, and a woman proves, I would think, that our society is not yet either just or free.

So here comes this black guy from the Bay Area talking about peace, feminism, challenging racism, challenging the priorities of the country, and talking about preserving the fragile nature of our ecological system. People looked at me as if I was a freak.

We have a duty to face racism and to fight it.

The struggle against patriarchy and racism must be substantively robust and inextricably intertwined.

I'm someone very interested in diversity, equity, social justice, and getting rid of white supremacy.

Antiracists must acknowledge that patriarchy has long been a weapon of racism and cannot sit comfortably in any politic of racial transformation.

A lot of political things would have to dramatically change in this planet for a woman of color to be carefree.

And ar'n't I a woman?

It's really not enough to just have black women. A really good idea could be to comment on how they are treated by society.

Marches alone won't bring integration when human respect is disintegratin'

I do not fight against men, but against the system that is sexist.

You know, I love all kinds of activism. I certainly think blacks deserve to have something whether it is affirmative action or an opportunity that should be opened up to them. But at the same time I believe that people of color are not the only poor people in America and all over the world.

We were taught in school, and I was taught at home and in church, that blacks and whites were equal and we should not discriminate based on skin color, even if my school was almost entirely white.

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

The history of progress is written in the blood of men and women who have dared to espouse an unpopular cause, as, for instance, the black man's right to his body, or woman's right to her soul.

We're going to fight racism not with racism, but we're going to fight with solidarity. We say we're not going to fight capitalism with black capitalism, but we're going to fight it with socialism.

Because women of color were more likely to be in the paid labor force, they were more likely to recognize discrimination, so they were always leading the women's movement.

Segregation was wrong when it was forced by white people, and I believe it is still wrong when it is requested by black people.

In the women's movement, women needed men to stand up and say, 'This isn't right.' In the civil rights of the '60s, it took people of all color to demand equal rights.

The legal battle against segregation is won, but the community battle goes on.

I will cut off this right arm of mine before I will ask for the ballot for the Negro and not for the woman.