Suffering does not necessarily ennoble you. Henry Louis Gates ennoblenecessarilysuffer Change image and share on social
So when you do your family tree and Margaret Cho does hers, and... Wanda Sykes and John Legend... we're adding to the database that scholars can then draw from to generalize about the complexity of the American experience. And that's the contribution that family trees make to broader scholarship. Henry Louis Gates addamericanbroad share on social
Dr. King's Nobel Prize had a more powerful transforming effect on him than I think he realized at the time. Henry Louis Gates effectkingnobel Change image and share on social
When Europeans came upon real ruined cities they refused to believe that they had been built by Africans. Here the past has been distorted and denied. Henry Louis Gates africanbuildcity Change image and share on social
The sad truth is that the civil rights movement cannot be reborn until we identify the causes of black suffering, some of them self-inflicted. Why can't black leaders organize rallies around responsible sexuality, birth within marriage, parents reading to their children and students staying in school and doing homework? Henry Louis Gates birthblackchild share on social
I first learned that there were black people living in some place called other than the United States in the western hemisphere when I was a very little boy, and my father told me that when he was a boy about my age, he wanted to be an Episcopal priest, because he so admired his priest, a black man from someplace called Haiti. Henry Louis Gates admireageblack share on social
Most black leaders, whether left, right or center, from Frederick Douglas and Martin Delaney on in the middle of the 19th century have not even wondered about the merits of the capitalist system. Henry Louis Gates 19thblackcapitalist Change image and share on social
Patriotism is best exemplified through auto-critique. Henry Louis Gates autocritiqueexemplify Change image and share on social
America is the greatest nation ever founded. The ideals are the greatest ever espoused in human history, and we just need the country to live up to them. But what I worry about are the 1 million black men in the prison system. Henry Louis Gates americablackcountry share on social
If you share a common ancestor with somebody, you're related to them. It doesn't mean that you're going to invite them to the family reunion, but it means that you share DNA. I think it's fascinating. Henry Louis Gates ancestorcommondna Change image and share on social