WISDOM · VERIFIED · EN

Henry Louis Gates Quote

“First we have to recognize that the cause of poverty is both structural and behavioral. And the first thing about the behavior part is that we need a moral revolution within the African American community. Look - no white racist makes you get pregnant when you are a black teenager.”

— Henry Louis Gates

Source: Quotables — alvations/Quotables (CC0 1.0 dataset)

Attribution status: verified · Publication status: cleared

Explore more quotes attributed to Henry Louis Gates or browse wisdom quotes.

If you believe this quote is incorrectly attributed or should be removed, see Copyright and quote corrections.

I think that the roots of racism have always been economic, and I think people are desperate and scared. And when you're desperate and scared you scapegoat people. It exacerbates latent tendencies toward - well, toward racism or homophobia or anti-Semitism.

— Henry Louis Gates

Wisdom

Read quote

The sad truth is that the civil rights movement cannot be reborn until we identify the causes of black suffering, some of them self-inflicted. Why can't black leaders organize rallies around responsible sexuality, birth within marriage, parents reading to their children and students staying in school and doing homework?

— Henry Louis Gates

Love

Read quote

Diversity doesn't mean black and white only.

— Henry Louis Gates

Wisdom

Read quote

The thing about black history is that the truth is so much more complex than anything you could make up.

— Henry Louis Gates

Truth

Read quote

If Martin Luther King came back, he'd say we need another civil rights movement built on class not race.

— Henry Louis Gates

Wisdom

Read quote

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

Wisdom

Read quote