There will be those who will tell you that you can't make it because of how you look, because of the way you talk. We all have heard that - I almost listened.
Douglas WilderRead
Slavery is nothing to joke about. The history of this nation's involvement with slavery is nothing to pass off in a joke.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the seriousness of slavery and criticizes making light of its historical significance.
Douglas Wilder's quote underscores the gravity of slavery as a historical issue and warns against trivializing it through humor. By pointing out that the nation's past involvement with slavery should not be treated casually or joked about, he highlights the need for deep reflection and respect for the suffering endured by many. This perspective advocates for a serious understanding of history and its impact on society today.
Themes
SlaveryHistorySeriousnessRespectReflection
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech addressing social justice, one might say, 'As Douglas Wilder reminds us, slavery is nothing to joke about, and we must acknowledge its impact on our society.'
More from Douglas Wilder
All quotes βSimilar quotes
History never looks like history when you are living through it. It always looks confusing and messy, and it always feels uncomfortable.
John W. GardnerRead
For historians ought to be precise, truthful, and quite unprejudiced, and neither interest nor fear, hatred nor affection, should cause them to swerve from the path of truth, whose mother is history, the rival of time, the depository of great actions, the witness of what is past, the example and instruction of the present, the monitor of the future.
Miguel De CervantesRead
Slavery is the great and foul stain upon the North American Union.
John Quincy AdamsRead
War is a crucial, deeply ingrained part of human history. It has to be understood.
Margaret MacmillanRead
Laila Lalami has fashioned an absorbing story of one of the first encounters between Spanish conquistadores and Native Americans, a frightening, brutal, and much-falsified history that here, in her brilliantly imagined fiction, is rewritten to give us something that feels very like the truth.
Salman RushdieRead
The revolution of Saint Domingo was taking its course. I saw that the whites could not endure, because they were divided and because they were overpowered by numbers; I congratulated myself that I was a black man.
Toussaint LouvertureRead