My brother and I had a really privileged relationship with my parents... They treated us like adults. Henry Louis Gates More Quotes by Henry Louis Gates More Quotes From Henry Louis Gates The Western stereotype of Africa and its black citizens as devoid of reason and, therefore, subhuman was often shared by white master and black ex-slave alike. Henry Louis Gates black citizens white The only people who live in a post-black world are four people who live in a little white house on Pennsylvania Avenue. The idea that America is post-racial or post-black because a man I admire, Barack Obama, is president of the United States, is a joke. And I hope no one will even wonder about this crazy fiction again. Henry Louis Gates crazy men ideas 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 kings class children I'm a tech geek. Whenever I read about something new, I think to myself, How can I take this and make it black? Henry Louis Gates geek black thinking Most black leaders, whether left, right or center, from Frederick Douglas and Martin Delaney on in the middle of the 19th century have not even wondered about the merits of the capitalist system. Henry Louis Gates merit black leader Keeping the Union together, freeing slaves and being assassinated all added up to creating 'Lincoln the myth.' He overcame a lot of his own prejudices and became what many would consider the first black man's president. Henry Louis Gates creating black men It's very lonely being a prominent black intellectual at an institution where you're the only prominent black intellectual. That was the model that was followed in the late 60s when black studies started. You'd get one here and one there and one here, like Johnny Appleseed. Henry Louis Gates black lonely intellectual If you share a common ancestor with somebody, you're related to them. It doesn't mean that you're going to invite them to the family reunion, but it means that you share DNA. I think it's fascinating. Henry Louis Gates dna mean thinking 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." Henry Louis Gates hockey golf years Fortunately, in President Obama, the child of an African and an American, we finally have a leader who is uniquely positioned to bridge the great reparations divide. Henry Louis Gates leader bridges children I believe in the law. I think we have a great system of justice. But I do think that system of justice has been corrupted by racism and classism. I think it's difficult for 'poor people' - poor white people, brown people - to be treated fairly before the law in the same way that upper-class people are. Henry Louis Gates law believe thinking The bottom line is that Wanda Sykes has the longest continuously documented family tree of any African-American we have ever researched. Henry Louis Gates african-american lines tree Dr. King's Nobel Prize had a more powerful transforming effect on him than I think he realized at the time. Henry Louis Gates powerful kings thinking I don't think the riots derailed the civil rights movement. Henry Louis Gates movement rights thinking 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 law kids school You can find virtually everybody black back as far as the 1870 census. Why 1870? That's when the ex-slaves first have surnames. But if you find your great-great-grandfather in 1870 and it says he's 50, that means he was born in 1820 and you're back to 1820 already. For an American that's pretty damned good, you know? Henry Louis Gates black grandfather mean You can say I had a severe case of 'Roots' envy. I wanted to be like Alex Haley, and I wanted to be able to... do my family tree back to the slave ship and then reverse the Middle Passage, as I like to put it, and find the tribe or ethnic group that I was from in Africa. Henry Louis Gates slave-ships envy roots It turns out one of my ancestors fought in the Continental Army, so I was inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution. Henry Louis Gates revolution army son In America one drop of black ancestry makes you black. Henry Louis Gates ancestry black america I didn't feel particularly close to my father. Henry Louis Gates feels father
