The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society.
John LewisRead
The March on Washington was a March for Jobs and Freedom. There are still too many people who are unemployed or underemployed in America - they're black, white, Latino, Native American and Asian American.
Interpretation
John Lewis emphasizes the ongoing struggle for employment and equality among diverse racial groups in America.
This quote highlights the significance of the March on Washington, which aimed to advocate for jobs and freedom. John Lewis points out that despite progress, many individuals across various racial backgrounds still face unemployment and underemployment, underscoring that social and economic justice remain crucial issues in society.
In practice
In a speech at a civil rights rally to highlight ongoing injustices.
The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society.
Customs, traditions, laws should be flexible, within good reason, if that is what it takes to make our democracy work.
I say to people today, 'You must be prepared if you believe in something. If you believe in something, you have to go for it. As individuals, we may not live to see the end.'
We need someone who is going to stand up, speak up, and speak out for the people who need help, for the people who have been discriminated against.
If it hadn't been for that march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, there would be no Barack Obama as President of the United States of America.
Sometimes I hear people saying, 'Nothing has changed.' Come and walk in my shoes.
Poverty, the racial divide and social injustice do not impact only those who suffer most visibly. Alleviating poverty and injustice is a responsibility we must never forget or abandon.
That's true but I think the contemporary problem that we are facing increasing numbers of black people and other people of color being thrown into a status that involves work in alternative economies and increasing numbers of people who are incarcerated.
The appalling racial injustice inherent in the Trayvon Martin tragedy reminds us that there is still much to do.
In college, when I was kind of confronted with facts and figures about inequality in America, a big impulse I had was to go hang out with homeless people around my university and hear them out and understand their situation from their perspective.
Being unhoused in America must no longer be viewed as an individual shortcoming, but rather as an unacceptable, life-threatening policy failure.
Being a young black man, observing and sensing the need for race equality and women's rights, I wrote about what was important to me.
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