Politicians will not put forth programs aimed at the problems of poor blacks while their turnout remains so low. Henry Louis Gates More Quotes by Henry Louis Gates More Quotes From Henry Louis Gates My father was the funniest man I ever met. He made Redd Foxx look like an undertaker. Henry Louis Gates men father looks Ever since I watched 'Roots,' I've dreamed of tracing my African ancestry and helping other people do the same. Henry Louis Gates helping-others roots people The Right insists that anyone can escape poverty by working hard but that is simply not the case. Henry Louis Gates poverty cases work Diversity doesn't mean black and white only. Henry Louis Gates diversity black-and-white mean In America there is institutional racism that we all inherit and participate in, like breathing the air in this room - and we have to become sensitive to it. Henry Louis Gates breathing air america In fact, the class divide in the black community is now seen by some as a permanent aspect of our existence. Henry Louis Gates black community class Lincoln had a tremendous capacity for personal growth - more than any other American President. Henry Louis Gates growth president capacity There's a boom in genealogy now. With ancestry.com and other sites digitizing so many of the records, you can now find things in a few minutes that used to take months. Henry Louis Gates ancestry records months The historical basis for the gap between the black middle class and underclass shows that ending discrimination, by itself, would not eradicate black poverty and dysfunction. We also need intervention to promulgate a middle-class ethic of success among the poor, while expanding opportunities for economic betterment. Henry Louis Gates dysfunction class opportunity The Dominican Republic says 'We're black behind the ears.' And in Mexico, 'there's a black grandma in the closet.' They know, they've just been intermarrying for a long time. But if we did the DNA of everyone in Mexico a whole lot of people would have a whole lot of black in them. Henry Louis Gates dna grandma long People don't realize what a brilliant politician Lincoln was. Looking back, we want to ascribe a level of providence to his every decision but he was a cunning and calculating politician; from the cultivation of his image as a hayseed from Illinois, to his ability to keep this country together under dire circumstances. Henry Louis Gates illinois country people 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. Henry Louis Gates black america people It's not white versus black any more, it's haves versus have-nots. Unless the black middle-classes unite to promote the interests of the black underclass, tension between them is inevitable. What we, the black middle class have to do, is think of a strategy to avert that. Henry Louis Gates white class thinking I would like to do a series about sequencing the human genome, and also analyze more human diversity among other ethnic groups - a 'Faces of America 2.' Henry Louis Gates diversity groups america 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. Henry Louis Gates tourists mirrors doubt My father lived to be 97 and played bridge every day up to the end, so I've got a 50 percent chance of living a long life like him. Henry Louis Gates bridges long father All historians generalize from particulars. And often, if you look at a historian's footnotes, the number of examples of specific cases is very, very small. Henry Louis Gates example numbers looks Lincoln would love the fact that Obama is such a great conciliator, trying to transcend ideology. Henry Louis Gates ideology trying facts My grandfather was coloured, my father was Negro, and I am Black. Henry Louis Gates black grandfather father What's fascinated me from the time I was a little kid was the way we construct our lives through stories. Henry Louis Gates stories littles kids
