American - Critic | September 16, 1950 -
You have to have a canon so the next generation can come along and explode it.
Henry Louis Gates
GenerationYouNextAlongCome
Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.
JusticeArtCensorship
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.
BestPatriotismPeopleFreeStand Up
So when you do your family tree and Margaret Cho does hers, and... Wanda Sykes and John Legend... we're adding to the database that scholars can then draw from to generalize about the complexity of the American experience. And that's the contribution that family trees make to broader scholarship.
FamilyTreeExperienceTreesLegend
All of the guests on 'Faces of America' were deeply moved by what we revealed about their ancestry. We were able to trace the ancestry of Native American writer Louise Erdrich back to 438 A.D. We found that Queen Noor is descended from royalty, and that's before she married King Hussein of Jordan.
QueenKingAmericanAmericaRoyalty
In America one drop of black ancestry makes you black.
BlackAmericaYouDropAncestry
I give a speech to the black freshmen at Harvard each year, and I say, 'You can like Mozart and ice hockey...' - and then I used to say 'golf,' but Tiger took over golf! - 'and Picasso and still be as black as the ace of spades.'
HockeyBlackGolfYearYouTiger
So many people of color who made major contributions to American history have been trapped in the purgatory of history.
HistoryPeopleColorAmericanBeen
I think that the implication of King's assassination has not been fully appreciated.
KingThinkAppreciatedBeenI Think
Cuba is like going to a whole other planet. It's so different but it's so similar to the United States, to Miami. It's like a doppelgaenger. It's the mirror image. And I have no doubt, that once Cuba becomes democratic, that it will be the favorite tourist destination for Americans.
MirrorDestinationMiamiDoubtImage
I'm looking forward to the time when we all look like Polynesians.
TimeLooking ForwardLookingForward
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.
BusinessSchoolLawBlackSecurity
Copyright © 2024 QuotesDict Henry Louis Gates quotes