We really suffer from a hot-take disease, wanting to be the first one who has the hottest take.
W. Kamau BellRead
This is a country that was founded on racism. It was built on racism. It still continues to thrive through wealth disparity, and housing disparity is all built on the backs of racism.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the pervasive and foundational nature of racism in the country's history and ongoing inequalities.
W. Kamau Bell's quote highlights the deep-rooted and systemic nature of racism in the foundations of the country. It suggests that racism is not just a historical issue but continues to manifest in contemporary societal structures, particularly in wealth and housing disparities, suggesting that these inequalities are sustained by the same racist foundations that once built the nation.
In practice
During a panel discussion on social justice.
We really suffer from a hot-take disease, wanting to be the first one who has the hottest take.
People born in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens - except for the teeny, tiny, mind-boggling fact that if you live in Puerto Rico, you are not allowed to cast a vote in the election for president. That tiny fact starts to get bigger when you realize that electing our own leaders is the whole reason that we have a country in the first place.
I've turned the annoying questions that white people ask into a career, so I understand that's where I live.
In communities of color, such as Ferguson, it often feels like the police are protecting the white community from us instead of protecting our communities from the criminal element.
We can't throw the worst part of racism into the dustbin of history.
When we let cops talk about themselves as a separate community, then we are letting cops wall themselves off from the rest of us. We don't generally do that with any other jobs. We don't talk about the barista community or the Wal-Mart greeter community.
What does it say about a society that it devotes more care and patience to the selection of those who handle its money than of those who handle its children?
We must suffer to the end, to the moment when we stop believing in suffering.
What is character? It is that quality of man which is going to make a man, in an hour of strain, do the just and, if possible, the generous thing.
No one likes to admit they are racist or bear prejudices. Nor do they even like to be open and honest when they witness racist behaviour.
Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don't be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish.
People are eternally divided into two classes, the believer, builder, and praiser...and the unbeliever, destroyer and critic.
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