The most difficult idea to reconcile in war is the notion that anything is going to be solved by killing a stranger, or in risking your life for a cause anchored in some distant political arena.
Walter Dean MyersRead
Like the Negro League players, I traveled through the segregated south as a young man. Because I was black, I was denied service at many restaurants and could only drink from water fountains marked 'Colored.' When I went to the movies, I would have to sit in the Colored balcony.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the struggles of racism and segregation faced by Black individuals in the past.
Walter Dean Myers recounts his experiences of racial segregation during his youth in the southern United States. He highlights the systemic discrimination that African Americans endured, as they were often denied basic services and forced to occupy separate, inferior spaces in public life. Through his personal narrative, Myers underscores the historical injustices that have shaped the African American experience.
Themes
SegregationRacismInjusticeDiscriminationHistory
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech about racial equality, one might quote this to illustrate the historical context of segregation.
More from Walter Dean Myers
All quotes →I remember one time being told I could not play in a basketball game at the College of William and Mary because I was black, even though I was playing with a United States Army team.
Walter Dean MyersRead
As a writer, I absorb stories, allow them to churn within my own head and heart - often for years - until I find a way of telling them that fits both my time and temperament.
Walter Dean MyersRead
We need to tell young people that America was built by men and women of all colors and that the future of this country is dependent on the participation of all of our citizens.
Walter Dean MyersRead
Yeah, that's funny, huh?...Something hurts you real bad and you get used to it. Like being hurt becomes part of who you are.
Walter Dean MyersRead
Books transmit values. They explore our common humanity. What is the message when some children are not represented in those books?
Walter Dean MyersRead
Similar quotes
Queer black characters have been the sidekick for long enough. It's time for us to finally take the lead.
Lena WaitheRead
There is no power in the world like that of women ... this most potent constituency we seek to represent, and for their suffrages we sue.
Louisa LawsonRead
What we are living with is the result of human choices and it can be changed by making better, wiser choices.
Robert RedfordRead
Millions of people in nearly 80 countries still live in fear of landmines and explosive remnants of war, which take an unacceptable toll on lives and limbs, and people's livelihoods
Ban Ki-MoonRead
I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones.
John CageRead
Work for legal reform takes place only within the framework of the social form created by the last revolution.
Rosa LuxemburgRead