#lack

My grandfather was coloured, my father was Negro, and I am Black. ↗

— Henry Louis Gates

#black #coloured #father #grandfather #i

One principle I've been fighting for that doesn't endear me to a lot of people is that black people can be just as complicated and screwed up as white people. Our motives can be just as base and violent. Suffering does not necessarily ennoble you. ↗

— Henry Louis Gates

#been #black #complicated #does #ennoble

Patriotism is best exemplified through auto-critique. When you're willing to stand up within the group and say, 'It is wrong for Black people to be anti-Semitic,' or 'It is wrong for America to discriminate against persons of African descent and made them slaves and based its wealth upon free labor,' it's crucial to say that. ↗

— Henry Louis Gates

#against #america #anti-semitic #based #best

Politicians will not put forth programs aimed at the problems of poor blacks while their turnout remains so low. ↗

— Henry Louis Gates

#blacks #forth #low #politicians #poor

Since the day Martin Luther King was killed, the black middle classes have almost quadrupled, but the percentage of black children living on or below the poverty line is almost the same. ↗

— Henry Louis Gates

#below #black #children #classes #day

The historical basis for the gap between the black middle class and underclass shows that ending discrimination, by itself, would not eradicate black poverty and dysfunction. We also need intervention to promulgate a middle-class ethic of success among the poor, while expanding opportunities for economic betterment. ↗

— Henry Louis Gates

#among #basis #betterment #between #black

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

#black #civil #civil rights #civil rights movement #class

Very few, if any, first-generation black or white or Asian kids will pursue a Ph.D. They'll pursue the professions for economic security. Many will go to law school and/or business school. ↗

— Henry Louis Gates

#asian #black #black or white #business #business school

We can revolutionize the attitude of inner city brown and black kids to learning. We need a civil rights movement within the African-American community. ↗

— Henry Louis Gates

#african-american community #attitude #black #brown #city

Well, certainly one of the ironies of the success of affirmative action is that the middle class within the black community no longer lives within 'black community' by and large. ↗

— Henry Louis Gates

#affirmative #affirmative action #black #black community #certainly