I rebel at the notion that I can't be part of other groups, that I can't construct identities through elective affinity, that race must be the most important thing about me. Is that what I want on my gravestone: Here lies an African American? Henry Louis Gates More Quotes by Henry Louis Gates More Quotes From Henry Louis Gates 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 fighting white people My father, if anything, first and last, was a man of words. He loved stories; he didn't live for stories, exactly, but I think he lived through stories. I think, like many writers, he loved stories about things he had experienced as much as, if not more than, he loved the experiences themselves. Henry Louis Gates men father thinking I knew that there were black people in Africa, of course, unfortunately because of movies such as 'Tarzan.' Henry Louis Gates movie black people Suffering does not necessarily ennoble you. Henry Louis Gates suffering doe Remember, I have a Ph.D. in English literature. Henry Louis Gates english-literature literature remember One must learn how to be black in America. Henry Louis Gates black america My goal is to get everybody in America to do their family tree. Henry Louis Gates goal tree america 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 black community class For me, a garden is peace of mind. It immediately takes my mind off the thing I'm puzzling about in my work and gives me repose. Henry Louis Gates garden mind giving We must begin to understand the nature of intertextuality . . . the manner by which texts poems and novels respond to other texts. After all, all cats may be black at night, but not to other cats. Henry Louis Gates black cat night It is the black poet who bridges the gap in tradition, who modifies tradition when experience demands it, who translates experience into meaning and meaning into belief. Henry Louis Gates demand black bridges Kansas City Lightning succeeds as few biographies of jazz musicians have. . . This book is a magnificent achievement; I could hardly put it down. Henry Louis Gates kansas-city cities book For black America needs a politics whose first mission isn't the reinforcement of the idea of black America; and a discourse of race that isn't centrally concerned with preserving the idea of race and racial unanimity. We need something we don't yet have: a way of speaking about black poverty that doesn't falsify the reality of black advancement; a way of speaking about black advancement that doesn't distort the enduring realities of black poverty. Henry Louis Gates race reality ideas Arnold Rampersad's stunningly revealing biography has, at long last, unveiled-in magisterial prose-the very complex and vulnerable man behind Ralph Ellison's own masks and myths. One of the nation's most brilliant writers emerges as all the more fascinating precisely because he was so very human. Painstakingly researched and compellingly written, Ralph Ellison is a masterwork of the genre of literary biography. Henry Louis Gates biographies men long The precise form of an individual's activity is determined, of course, by the equipment with which he came into the world. In other words, it is determined by his heredity. Henry Louis Gates success life world What people forget is that the most radical thing about Obama is that he was the first black man in history to imagine that he could become president, who was able to make other Americans believe it as well. Other than that, he is a centrist, just like I try to be. He's been bridging divisions his whole life. Henry Louis Gates men believe people Insofar as we, critics of the black tradition, master our craft, we serve both to preserve our own traditions and to shape their direction. All great writers demand great critics. Henry Louis Gates demand crafts black My brother and I had a really privileged relationship with my parents... They treated us like adults. Henry Louis Gates adults parent brother It's no surprise that White people say things when they are together about Black people. Henry Louis Gates black white people I want to get into the educational DNA of American culture. I want 10 percent of the common culture, more or less, to be black. Henry Louis Gates black educational dna
