When you hate, the only person that suffers is you because most of the people you hate don't know it and the rest don't care.
Medgar EversRead
I remember one of them - it was a 1941 black Ford. As it went by very slow, a guy leaned out with a shotgun, keeping a bead on us all the time, and we just had to walk slowly and wait for him to kill us... They didn't kill us, but they didn't end it, either.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects the fear and uncertainty faced in the face of violence and racism, illustrating the courage to endure despite threats.
Medgar Evers vividly describes a moment of intense fear where he and others were confronted with open hostility and violence. The quote highlights the psychological impact of living under threat and the courage it takes to face such dangers, suggesting that while they survived that encounter, the larger struggle against violence and oppression continued unabated.
Themes
CourageFearOppressionViolenceSurvival
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about civil rights to illustrate the struggles faced during that time.
More from Medgar Evers
All quotes →As long as God gives me strength to work and try to make things real for my children, I'm going to work for it - even if it means making the ultimate sacrifice.
Medgar EversRead
First it was the whites, and then their Negro message bearers. And the word was always the same: 'Tell your sons to take their names off the books. Don't show up at the courthouse voting day.'
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It may sound funny, but I love the South. I don't choose to live anywhere else. There's land here, where a man can raise cattle, and I'm going to do it some day.
Medgar EversRead
The gifts of God should be enjoyed by all citizens in Mississippi.
Medgar EversRead
The six of us gathered at my house, and we walked to the polls. I'll never forget it. Not a Negro was on the streets, and when we got to the courthouse, the clerk said he wanted to talk with us. When we got into his office, some 15 or 20 armed white men surged in behind us - men I had grown up with, had played with.
Medgar EversRead
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