Racial Discussion Quotes

I don't think that the country is ever ready to have the conversation about race.

Obviously, race is the elephant in the room, and we all understand that. Unless it is talked about constantly, it's not going to get better... people have to be made to feel uncomfortable, and especially white people, because we're comfortable. We still have no clue what being born white means.

As long as you say I'm the guy who's real about it, I have no problem being the person who people look to to talk about race.

I never said I wasn’t Black… I want to make that very clear. I said, I am not African-American. I never expected my personal beliefs and comments to spark such emotion in people. I think it is only positive when we can openly discuss race and being labeled in America.

It's time we become comfortable with the uncomfortable conversations about race...Instead of being color blind, we need to be color brave.

I think [there's] the opportunity for - I almost said President Clinton, and soon I will - but for Hillary Clinton to address that, and for the public sphere to address that in a way that they haven't. We started a conversation in the last few years on race that we desperately needed to have.

We have been basically persuaded that we should not talk about racism.

It so happens that I never talk about race. I do not know what race is.

You have to talk about the issue of race, but I can talk to white constituents about racism, if I at least acknowledge that life is not a crystal stair for them either.

As I moved to less and less diverse places in my life, I realized that white people don't talk about race amongst themselves!

I've always been talking about race in some sort of capacity.

I do wish that people talked about the subject of race, especially in the South.

I did a paper on why is race so uncomfortable to discuss. Is it because you don't want to bring up bad history in America? You want to be conscious of whatever you say about that because it's a serious point.

Traditionally, I have no right to talk about race. I'm white; I didn't grow up in an all-black neighborhood. But the license I see for myself is I'm a member of the world.

Though race-related issues continue to occupy a significant portion of our political discussion, and though there remain many unresolved racial issues in this nation, we, average Americans, simply do not talk enough with each other about things racial.

People feel uncomfortable talking about racial issues out of fear that if they express things, they will be characterized in a way that's not fair. I think that there is still a need for a dialogue about things racial that we've not engaged in.

The conversation about race is inevitable. It's one that people know that we have to have and continue to have.

Many people are afraid to talk about race because it's so emotionally loaded. We don't have the vocabulary to talk about it. Every day, our vocabulary seems more and more inadequate.

I can tell you from personal experience it gets a little tiring having to make the rounds on cable shows to explain 'what's up with black folks.'

Much of America is petrified to bring up race, especially in public forums - the media, in particular.

It's very uncomfortable to talk about race. It often devolves before it begins.

I still think that we have a hesitance to talk about things racial. And I think we do it at our detriment. We go from incident to incident, and we have spikes in which race becomes something that we talk about, as opposed to talking about race in those less contentious times when I think we might make more progress.

I'm a Southerner - I never take satisfaction in touching a nerve. I guess if I'm forced to find a good side, I'm glad that people are talking about an issue that hasn't really been discussed all that much. I'm glad that people are talking about it from the black perspective and the white perspective.

We don't like talking about race in the U.K. - it's a very sensitive subject. People get extremely defensive and run for the covers, but I believe we have to talk about it.

I live in Brooklyn, and there's so many interracial couples in Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, you don't talk about race like that.