Anytime you see a turtle up on top of a fence post, you know he had some help.
Racism is taught in our society, it is not automatic. It is learned behavior toward persons with dissimilar physical characteristics.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Racism is a learned behavior, not an inherent trait, influenced by societal teachings.
In this quote, Alex Haley emphasizes that racism is not an instinctual reaction but a social construct that individuals learn through their interactions and observations within society. He points out that people's negative attitudes toward those who look different stem from education and environment rather than from natural predisposition, thereby illustrating the importance of challenging these learned behaviors to foster understanding and acceptance.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about inclusion, one might say, 'As Alex Haley stated, racism is a learned behavior, urging us to educate ourselves and others.'
More from Alex Haley
All quotes βTying the little folks with the older folks is a great and powerful tool to preserve and to protect the family and the individual.
That's what happens with writing. Ingredients bubble and cook. Material becomes substance.
I think one of the most fascinating things you can do after you learn about your own people is to study something about the history and culture of other people.
In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.
Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.
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The lives of African-Americans in this country are characterized by violence for most of our history. Much of that violence, at least to some extent, you know, done by the very state that's supposed to protect them.
The main thing is to remain oneself, under any circumstances; that was and is our common purpose.
The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy the gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people; then shall we both deserve and enjoy it. While on the other hand, if we are universally vicious and debauched in our manners, though the form of our Constitution carries the face of the most exalted freedom, we shall in reality be the most abject slaves.
LAUGHTER is the very essence of religion. Seriousness is never religious, cannot be religious. Seriousness is of the ego, part of the very disease. Laughter is egolessness. Yes, there is a difference between when you laugh and when a religious man laughs. The difference is that you laugh always about others - the religious man laughs at himself, or at the whole ridiculousness of man's being. Religion cannot be anything other than a celebration of life.
As the end approaches, there are no longer any images from memory - there are only words.
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.