The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society.
John LewisRead
The March on Washington was a March for Jobs and Freedom. There are still too many people who are unemployed or underemployed in America - they're black, white, Latino, Native American and Asian American.
Interpretation
John Lewis emphasizes the ongoing struggle for employment and equality among diverse racial groups in America.
This quote highlights the significance of the March on Washington, which aimed to advocate for jobs and freedom. John Lewis points out that despite progress, many individuals across various racial backgrounds still face unemployment and underemployment, underscoring that social and economic justice remain crucial issues in society.
In practice
In a speech at a civil rights rally to highlight ongoing injustices.
The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society.
Customs, traditions, laws should be flexible, within good reason, if that is what it takes to make our democracy work.
I say to people today, 'You must be prepared if you believe in something. If you believe in something, you have to go for it. As individuals, we may not live to see the end.'
We need someone who is going to stand up, speak up, and speak out for the people who need help, for the people who have been discriminated against.
If it hadn't been for that march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, there would be no Barack Obama as President of the United States of America.
Sometimes I hear people saying, 'Nothing has changed.' Come and walk in my shoes.
There are many, many different kinds of intersectional exclusions - not just black women but other women of color. Not just people of color, but people with disabilities. Immigrants. LGBTQ people. Indigenous people.
That's true but I think the contemporary problem that we are facing increasing numbers of black people and other people of color being thrown into a status that involves work in alternative economies and increasing numbers of people who are incarcerated.
For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion, let alone an exercise in irrational conspiracy theorizing. Rather, it speaks to a social reality about which blacks are acutely aware.
Almost certainly, however, the first essential component of social justice is adequate food for all mankind.
When thousands of men and women work full time but need food stamps to put food on their tables, when they can't get health benefits, when they can't get paid sick days, then we must do whatever we can to stand up for them.
It is this world, a world where cruise ships throw away more food in a day than most residents of Port-au-Prince see in a year, where white folks' greed runs a world in need, apartheid in one hemisphere, apathy in another hemisphere...That's the world! On which hope sits!
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