Truth is the baby of the world. It never gets old.
Dick GregoryRead
Last time I was down South I walked into this restaurant, and this white waitress came up to me and said: 'We don't serve colored people here.' "I said: 'that's all right, I don't eat colored people. Bring me a whole fried chicken.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote uses humor to highlight racial discrimination and the absurdity of prejudice.
In this quote, Dick Gregory cleverly responds to a racist remark made by a waitress by turning the situation on its head with humor. Instead of engaging in anger or confrontation, he uses wit to expose the ridiculousness of the discrimination he faces, showcasing how laughter can be a powerful tool to challenge societal issues.
Themes
RacismHumorWitChickenDiscrimination
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech promoting equality, you might use this quote to illustrate the power of humor in social justice.
More from Dick Gregory
All quotes →I never thought I'd see the day that I would see white folks as frightened, or more so, than black folks was during the civil rights movement when we was in Mississippi.
Dick GregoryRead
Just being a Negro doesn't qualify you to understand the race situation any more than being sick makes you an expert on medicine.
Dick GregoryRead
We used to root for the Indians against the cavalry, because we didn't think it was fair in the history books that when the cavalry won it was a great victory, and when the Indians won it was a massacre.
Dick GregoryRead
Because I'm a civil rights activist, I am also an animal rights activist. Animals and humans suffer and die alike. Violence causes the same pain, the same spilling of blood, the same stench of death, the same arrogant, cruel and vicious taking of life. We shouldn't be a part of it.
Dick GregoryRead
We thought I was going to be a great athlete, and we were wrong, and I thought I was going to be a great entertainer, and that wasn't it either. I'm going to be an American Citizen. First class.
Dick GregoryRead
Similar quotes
I don't think comedy really does change people's minds; I think you can only get someone who is almost ready to change their mind. You can't change someone from one direction straight into the other, but if you get someone who is considering your view, and you make a good point, there's power in that.
Jim JefferiesRead
Calvin: Isn't it strange that evolution would give us a sense of humor? When you think about it, it's weird that we have a physiological response to absurdity. We laugh at nonsense. We like it. We think it's funny. Don't you think it's odd that we appreciate absurdity? Why would we develop that way? How does it benefit us? Hobbes: I suppose if we couldn't laugh at things that don't make sense, we couldn't react to a lot of life.
Bill WattersonRead
I was an ugly kid; when I was born, after the doctor cut the cord, he hung himself.
Rodney DangerfieldRead
I've been told to speed up my delivery when I perform. But if I lose the stammer, I'm just another slightly amusing accountant.
Bob NewhartRead
And that brings us to tonight's word: Truthiness. Now I'm sure some of the word-police, the 'wordanistas' over at Websters, are gonna say, 'Hey, that's not a word!' Well, anybody who knows me knows that I am no fan of dictionaries or reference books. They're elitist. Constantly telling us what is or isn't true, what did or didn't happen.
Stephen ColbertRead
You know, it is a terrible thing to appear on television, because people think that you actually know what you're talking about.
David AttenboroughRead