When I walk out on to the court and everyone is staring, sometimes I wonder how my legs will carry me out there. That's forgotten as soon as I start playing.
Evonne Goolagong CawleyRead
I'd much rather people knew me as a good tennis player than as an aboriginal who happens to play good tennis. Of course I'm proud of my race, but I don't want to be thinking about it all the time.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of individual identity over racial or cultural labels.
Evonne Goolagong Cawley's quote reflects her desire to be recognized primarily for her achievements in tennis rather than being defined by her heritage as an aboriginal. While she expresses pride in her roots, she underscores the importance of being seen as a skilled athlete first, signaling a wish to transcend stereotypes and focus on personal merit.
In practice
This quote can be used in a discussion about the importance of individual achievements versus societal labels.
When I walk out on to the court and everyone is staring, sometimes I wonder how my legs will carry me out there. That's forgotten as soon as I start playing.
When I went through some racism through my early days and I went back and told Mum... she said, 'Don't worry about that, they're just ignorant.'
I'm a Black woman and I've always been told that I wasn't Black enough because of the way that I grew up, the experiences that I had.
Blackness remains the coat you can't take off.
When I first came to Harvard, I thought to myself, 'What kind of an Indian am I?' because I did not grow up on a reservation. But being an Indian is a combination of things. It's your blood. It's your spirituality. And it's fighting for the Indian people.
I knew that I was trans when I was three years old. Well, I didn't know 'trans' because I didn't know there was a word for it, but I just knew that in my head and my heart that I was supposed to be a girl.
My mixed-race background made me a broad person, able to relate to different cultures. But any woman of colour, even a mixed colour, is seen as black in America. So that's how I regard myself.
I live half the year in Nigeria, the other half in the U.S. But home is Nigeria - it always will be. I consider myself a Nigerian who is comfortable in the world. I look at it through Nigerian eyes.
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