Race and Identity Quotes

There's definitely some parallels between me and Joaquin Phoenix, I think. The line gets so blurry. My rap career wasn't a hoax, but it was absolutely intended to be a joke. The problem was that I really was on a quest to somehow be a Caucasian Ol' Dirty Bastard.

In every interview I've got to explain something about being white but still being into hip hop. It's gone way beyond the musical aspect of the business. And I'm as critical about music as everybody else is.

It's a slippery slope when you make the argument that hip hop is only a black person's art. Certainly, its origins are in that community, but if you want it to endure as an art form you have to let other people have their way with it.

When I was in high school, I remember writing a research paper, and the teacher said I should write about Langston Hughes. I felt as if I was the only black dude who didn't like Langston Hughes. He didn't seem as dark and layered as someone like Flannery O'Connor.

Stuart Hall was an utterly unique figure. Although he arrived at the age of 19 from Jamaica and spent the rest of his life here, he never felt at home in Britain. This juxtaposition was a crucial source of his strength and originality. Because of his colour and origin, he saw the country differently - not as a native, but as an outsider.

In Hollywood, I was never restricted to just one Asian character. I've been cast as a Chinese, a Vietnamese, a Korean, a Japanese and a Cambodian.

I was born in the UK and brought up by my single mother in Ghana, where being black was unexceptional. As an adult, I learnt to succeed in white Britain, going from a state sixth form, to Oxford university, to a well-paid job in the City, to becoming the first black Conservative MP to attend the cabinet.

I want everybody to understand that I am an American Negro first before I am a member of any political party.

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.

I know I'm a black actor, but really, I'm an actor who happens to be black.

Film was something I didn't really think about when I was young, because if you looked like me, you weren't a film star.

Every race I've been in, I calculated race into the equation. If you're in America, you calculate it into the equation. It is a factor. I never make it an issue. I don't run the campaign wearing it on my sleeve, but I don't run away from it, either.

My talent is universal, and acting is a craft that can be used anywhere, unless ethnicity comes into play, and then, looks matter.