There are two things that have always haunted me: the brutality of the European traders and the stories I've heard about Africans selling other Africans into slavery.
Henry Louis GatesRead
People who own property feel a sense of ownership in their future and their society. They study, save, work, strive and vote. And people trapped in a culture of tenancy do not.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Ownership fosters a sense of responsibility and connection to society, while tenancy may lead to disconnection.
In this quote, Henry Louis Gates emphasizes the importance of property ownership in instilling a sense of responsibility and investment in one's future and community. He contrasts this with individuals who are tenants, suggesting that they may feel less connected and less likely to engage in civic responsibilities such as studying, saving, working, striving, and voting, which are foundational to a thriving society.
Themes
OwnershipCommunityResponsibilityPropertyTenancySociety
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in discussions about social policies related to housing and property ownership.
More from Henry Louis Gates
All quotes →It's not white versus black any more, it's haves versus have-nots. Unless the black middle-classes unite to promote the interests of the black underclass, tension between them is inevitable. What we, the black middle class have to do, is think of a strategy to avert that.
Henry Louis GatesRead
In America there is institutional racism that we all inherit and participate in, like breathing the air in this room - and we have to become sensitive to it.
Henry Louis GatesRead
In fact, the class divide in the black community is now seen by some as a permanent aspect of our existence.
Henry Louis GatesRead
The historical basis for the gap between the black middle class and underclass shows that ending discrimination, by itself, would not eradicate black poverty and dysfunction. We also need intervention to promulgate a middle-class ethic of success among the poor, while expanding opportunities for economic betterment.
Henry Louis GatesRead
The only people who live in a post-black world are four people who live in a little white house on Pennsylvania Avenue. The idea that America is post-racial or post-black because a man I admire, Barack Obama, is president of the United States, is a joke. And I hope no one will even wonder about this crazy fiction again.
Henry Louis GatesRead
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