We cannot discuss the state of our minorities until we first have a sense of what we are, who we are, what our goals are, and what we take life to be. - James Baldwin

If one could accept the fact that it is no longer important to be white, it would begin to cease to be important to be black. If we could accept the fact that no nation with 20 million black people in it for so long and with such a depth of involvement, that no nation under these circumstances can be called a white nation, this would be a great achievement, and it would change a great many things.

The American ideal, after all, is that everyone should be as much alike as possible.

Then I wanted to beg him to forgive me. But this would have been too great a confession; any yielding at that moment would have locked me forever in that room with him. And in a way this was exactly what I wanted.