When you shoot someone who is fleeing, it's not self-defense. It's an execution.
Stephen CarterRead
To be black and an intellectual in America is to live in a box. On the box is a label, not of my own choosing.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the limitations and stereotypes faced by Black intellectuals in America.
Stephen Carter's quote highlights the constraints and societal labels placed on Black individuals, particularly those who are intellectuals. It suggests that being identified as both Black and an intellectual comes with predefined expectations and confines, limiting personal identity and choice in how one is perceived by society. This commentary sheds light on the intersection of race and intellectualism, emphasizing the struggle against imposed identities.
Themes
BlackIntellectualIdentitySocietyLabels
In practice
Example use cases
During a lecture on racial identity, this quote could serve to illustrate the challenges faced by Black scholars.
More from Stephen Carter
All quotes βIn real life there are indeed black people who have been in the middle class for generations, but in entertainment it's as if they don't exist.
Stephen CarterRead
Teaching civility is an obligation of the family.
Stephen CarterRead
Similar quotes
But to my mind, though I am native here, And to the manner born, it is a custom, More honored in the breach than the observance.
William ShakespeareRead
By adopting the control strategy, the nation's environmental program has created a built-in antagonism between environmental quality and economic growth.
Barry CommonerRead
Autobiography, if there really is such a thing, is like asking a rabbit to tell us what he looks like hopping through the grasses of the field. How would he know? If we want to hear about the field on the other hand, no one is in a better circumstance to tell us-so long as we keep in mind that we are missing all those things the rabbit was in no position to observe.
Arthur GoldenRead
Behind the veil of each night, there is a smilling dawn.
Khalil GibranRead
It is myself I have never met whose face is pasted on the underside of my mind
Sarah KaneRead
Generally the officers of the army were indifferent whether the annexation [of Texas] was consummated or not; but not so all of them. For myself, I was bitterly opposed to the measure, and to this day regard the war, which resulted, as one of the most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation. It was an instance of a republic following the bad example of European monarchies, in not considering justice in their desire to acquire additional territory.
Ulysses S. GrantRead