Civil Rights Quotes
"I have a dream..."
"I have a dream..."
“An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the
conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
“It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there'll be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there
will be no result.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
will be no result.”
― Mahatma Gandhi
“In order for us as poor and oppressed people to become part of a society that is meaningful, the system under which we now exist has to be radically changed. This means that we are going to have to learn to think in radical terms. I use the term radical in its original meaning--getting down to and understanding the root cause. It means facing a system that does not lend itself to your needs and devising means by which you change that system.”
- Ella Baker
- Ella Baker
"Though I did not know it then, nor would I come to realize it for many years, what transpired in the fall of 1960 in New Orleans would forever change my life and help shape a nation. When I think back on that time and all that has occurred since, I realize a lot has changed. I also know there is much more to be done. That fateful walk to school began a journey, one that I continue to this day." Ruby Bridges
"Racism is a grown-up disease and we should stop using our kids to spread it." Ruby Bridges
"Racism is a grown-up disease and we should stop using our kids to spread it." Ruby Bridges
"Segregation of white and colored children in public schools has a detrimental effect upon the colored children. The impact is greater when it has the sanction of the law, for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the Negro group. A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to "slow down" the educational and mental development of Negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racially integrated school system. ... We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."
Chief Justice Earl Warren Brown vs. Board of Education
Chief Justice Earl Warren Brown vs. Board of Education