What the Rastaman represents is positivity.
Peter ToshRead
And I ask why am I black, they say I was born in sin, and shamed inequity. One of the main songs we used to sing in church makes me sick, 'love wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a critical reflection on race, identity, and societal perceptions of worthiness tied to skin color.
Peter Tosh's quote challenges the harmful narratives associated with race and inherent sinfulness, particularly as imposed by religious and societal dogmas. It highlights the internal conflict experienced by individuals who endure racial shame and stigmatization while simultaneously yearning for acceptance and love, suggesting the futility of seeking validation through such oppressive beliefs.
Themes
RaceIdentitySinLoveShame
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion on racial identity, one might reference this quote to illustrate the psychological impact of societal norms.
More from Peter Tosh
All quotes →I was taught that Jesus the Son of God was a white man, and hearing black people singing, 'Lord, wash me, and I will be whiter than snow,' made me sick.
Peter ToshRead
I was the only one in my family to be musically inclined, and my mother loved that. It encouraged my grand aunt to find me a music teacher, because it was quite obvious music was in me.
Peter ToshRead
I am good. I live good. I think good. I don't have to feel good to be good, I take my goodness wherever I go.
Peter ToshRead
I have no mother here; I have a bearer. Jah is my mother, and Jah is my father.
Peter ToshRead
In the beginning there was the word. The word was Jah. The word is in I, Jah is in I. I make what is good, better, and what is better, best. I follow this in every aspect of life.
Peter ToshRead
Similar quotes
What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the Sunset.
CrowfootRead
Come into the silence of solitude, and the vibration there will talk to you through the voice of God.
Paramahansa YoganandaRead
To be true to one's own freedom is, in essence, to honor and respect the freedom of all others.
Dwight D. EisenhowerRead
Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one; for when we suffer, or are exposed to the same miseries by a government, which we might expect in a country without government, our calamity is heightened by reflecting that we furnish the means by which we suffer.
Thomas PaineRead
A certain sense of cruelty towards oneself and others is Christian; hatred of those who think differently; the will to persecute. Mortal hostility against the masters of the earth, against the 'noble', that is also Christian; hatred of mind, of pride, courage, freedom, libertinage of mind, is Christian; hatred of the senses, of joy in general, is Christian.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
The whole of life has become an institution, a madhouse in which duties are to be fulfilled not love; in which you have to behave, not be spontaneous; in which a pattern has to be followed, not the overflow of life and energy. That's why the mind thinks and decides everything, because there is danger.
RajneeshRead