QuoteProject
Some of the worst racist tragedies in history have been perfectly legal.
Kimberle Williams Crenshaw
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Racism and injustice can often be sanctioned by laws, revealing a flawed legal system.

This quote highlights the troubling reality that some of the most horrific acts of racism throughout history were not only immoral but also legally permissible at the time. It serves as a powerful reminder that legality does not equate to justice, and that societal norms can enable systemic oppression, urging us to critically analyze laws and their implications for equality and human rights.

Themes

RacismTragedyLegalJusticeInjustice

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be cited in discussions about civil rights movements to illustrate the challenges faced in achieving true justice.

More from Kimberle Williams Crenshaw

The struggle against patriarchy and racism must be substantively robust and inextricably intertwined.
Kimberle Williams CrenshawRead
I have a wonderful, diverse, and young staff at the AAPF who pretty much work around the clock trying to figure out how we promote the idea that social justice requires us to be intersectional in our thinking and in our scope of vision.
Kimberle Williams CrenshawRead
If you don't have a lens that's been trained to look at how various forms of discrimination come together, you're unlikely to develop a set of policies that will be as inclusive as they need to be.
Kimberle Williams CrenshawRead
We have to move back to the idea that education isn't about teaching people to bow to rigid rules. That's not what democracy is about.
Kimberle Williams CrenshawRead
Having a monolithic view of feminism is suffocating.
Kimberle Williams CrenshawRead
We must begin to tell black women's stories because, without them, we cannot tell the story of black men, white men, white women, or anyone else in this country. The story of black women is critical because those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it.
Kimberle Williams CrenshawRead

Similar quotes

The first thing which will be judged among a man's deeds on the Day of Resurrection is the Prayer. If this is in good order then he will succeed and prosper but if it is defective then he will fail and will be a loser.
MuhammadRead
Palestine belongs to the Arabs in the same sense that England belongs to the English or France to the French. It is wrong and inhuman to impose the Jews on the Arabs... Surely it would be a crime against humanity to reduce the proud Arabs so that Palestine can be restored to the Jews partly or wholly as their national home
Mahatma GandhiRead
An age that melts in unperceiv'd decay, And glides in modest innocence away.
Samuel JohnsonRead
I don't want it to end, and so, as every therapist knows, the ego does not want an end to its β€œproblems” because they are part of its identity. If no one will listen to my sad story, I can tell it to myself in my head, over and over, and feel sorry for myself, and so have an identity as someone who is being treated unfairly by life or other people, fate or God. It gives definition to my self-image, makes me into someone, and that is all that matters to the ego.
Eckhart TolleRead
When we have become free, we need not go mad and throw up society and rush off to die in the forest or the cave; we shall remain where we were but we shall understand the whole thing. The same phenomena will remain but with a new meaning.
Swami VivekanandaRead
The early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the Church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles o popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Read

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.