I've learned that my people are not the only ones oppressed... I have sung my songs all over the world and everywhere found that some common bond makes the people of all lands take to Negro songs as their own.
Paul RobesonRead
In Russia I felt for the first time like a full human being. No color prejudice like in Mississippi, no color prejudice like in Washington. It was the first time I felt like a human being.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the idea of feeling fully accepted and human in a society free from racial prejudice.
Paul Robeson's quote reflects his profound experience of feeling truly human for the first time while in Russia, contrasting this with his experiences in the racially prejudiced environments of Mississippi and Washington. This suggests that societal acceptance and the absence of discrimination are crucial for one's sense of self-worth and humanity.
Themes
HumanityPrejudiceAcceptanceIdentityExperience
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech addressing the importance of social acceptance.
More from Paul Robeson
All quotes →We ask for nothing that is not ours by right, and herein lies the great moral power of our demand.
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My mother was born in your state, Mr. Walter, and my mother was a Quaker, and my ancestors in the time of Washington baked bread for George Washington's troops when they crossed the Delaware, and my own father was a slave.
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The intolerance of the few, or the risk of it, carries the day against the wider humanity of the many.
Paul RobesonRead
I shall take my voice wherever there are those who want to hear the melody of freedom
Paul RobesonRead
And at home in the United States we found continued and increased persecution, first of leaders of the Communist Party, and then of all honest anti-fascists.
Paul RobesonRead
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