Henry Louis Gates Jr

censorship art lynching justice

“Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.”

― Henry Louis Gates Jr

step tolerance respect knowledge

“The first step toward tolerance is respect and the first step toward respect is knowledge.”

― Henry Louis Gates Jr.

story African-American people universal tale experience

"The story of the African-American people is the story of the settlement and growth of America itself, a universal tale that all people should experience."

― Henry Louis Gates Jr

tell story nurture protect memories existence change

"If you don't tell your stories, other people will tell their story about you. It's important that we nurture and protect these memories. Things change. Existence means change."

― Henry Louis Gates Jr

Ethiopia christians 1700 years Europe saints black

"In Ethiopia, the black people became Christians 1700 years ago, hundreds of years before Northern Europe turned to Christianity... And here, most of the saints are black."

― Henry Louis Gates Jr

people afraid pie shrink hate blame anxiety

"People are afraid, and when people are afraid, when their pie is shrinking, they look for somebody to hate. They look for somebody to blame. And a real leader speaks to anxiety and to fear and allays those fears, assuages anxiety."

― Henry Louis Gates Jr

ironic outcome black civil rights middle class separate

"The most ironic outcome of the black Civil Rights movement has been the creation of a new black middle class which is increasingly separate from the black underclass."

― Henry Louis Gates Jr