I was unique in that I was a kind of black that white people could accept. I was their daydream. I had the worst kind of acceptance because it was never for how great I was or what I contributed. It was because of the way I looked.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the complexities of acceptance based on race and appearance rather than genuine merit.
Lena Horne's quote addresses the uncomfortable reality of racial dynamics, illustrating how acceptance can sometimes be superficial, rooted in societal perceptions rather than true appreciation of an individual's talents and contributions. It highlights the notion that being accepted for one's appearance, particularly in a racially stratified context, can lead to a hollow sense of validation, as it does not reflect a person's worth or efforts.
In practice
In a discussion on racial identity and social acceptance during a seminar.
It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. Carry it by the comfortable handles of gratitude for what's positive and that it is not worse, rather than the uncomfortable edges of bitterness for the negatives and that it is not better.
I'm not alone, I'm free. I no longer have to be a credit, I don't have to be a symbol to anybody; I don't have to be a first to anybody.
I'm still learning, you know. At 80, I feel there is a lot I don't know.
My identity is very clear to me now, I am a black woman.
In my early days I was a sepia Hedy Lamarr. Now I'm black and a woman, singing my own way.
There is no avoiding the fact that we live at the mercy of our ideas This is never more true than with our ideas about God.
Revolt is the mirror in which greed is forced to see itself.
The acceptance of certain realities doesn't preclude idealism. It can lead to certain breakthroughs.
Where I am, I don't know, I'll never know, in the silence you don't know, you must go on, I can't go on, I'll go on.
There is nothing divine about morality; it is a purely human affair. If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed. What the individual can do is to give a fine example, and to have the courage to uphold ethical values .. in a society of cynics.
We live in an almost perfect stillness and work with incredible urgency.
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