To be white in America is to have the confidence to say, without a second thought: this space, this neighborhood, this city, this county, this country is mine.
Joy ReidRead
Freedom is neither guaranteed nor automatic; not even in the United States. Left unguarded, it can slip away like a thief in the night.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Freedom must be actively protected; it is not a given.
This quote by Joy Reid emphasizes that freedom is not an inherent condition or a guaranteed right, even in nations that value it highly, like the United States. It warns that if not actively defended and maintained, freedom can disappear unexpectedly and without warning, much like a thief stealing in the shadows.
Themes
FreedomVigilanceRightsProtectionLiberty
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on civil rights, one might say this quote to emphasize the importance of protecting freedoms.
More from Joy Reid
All quotes βThe work of anti-racism can only take place inside each individual soul, where we all try to grow into better people. There is no national tonic or instant cure.
Joy ReidRead
To be white in America is to assume, with total self-confidence and little afterthought, the personal ownership of public spaces.
Joy ReidRead
There is a twinge of abandonment that comes with being a member of the African Diaspora. But 'Black Panther' fearlessly introduces and then complicates this and other deeply held albeit rarely expressed emotions; that indeed is what makes this film so profoundly innovative.
Joy ReidRead
For millions of Americans who happen to be black or brown, that core bond of trust with the government that governs closest to you, is too often broken.
Joy ReidRead
Similar quotes
In our early struggles for liberty, religious freedom could not fail to become a primary object.
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For those who know the value of and exquisite taste of solitary freedom (for one is only free when alone), the act of leaving is the bravest and most beautiful of all.
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True freedom is to share All the chains our brothers wear, And, with heart and hand, to be Earnest to make others free!
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It is well for us to pause, to acknowledge our debt to those who paid so large a share of freedom's price.
Dwight D. EisenhowerRead
Independence means we enjoy freedom. We are not colonised by people. And we can govern our own country and develop it independently so that our people can live a better life.
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Freedom conceives that the mind and spirit of man can be free only if he is free to pattern his own life, to develop his own talents, free to earn, to spend, to save, to acquire property as the security of his old age and his family.
Herbert HooverRead