Civil rights

Explore 22 quotes about Civil rights

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I Have a Dream

Buy a book containing this speech at Amazon Buy a book containing this speech at Amazon
Read the full transcript of I Have a Dream at americanrhetoric.com

More information about this quote

Topic

Racial equality Equality Civil rights

Speaker

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Source

I Have a Dream

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 0

Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "I Have a Dream." March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. 28 Aug. 1963, Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC, USA.

When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir... America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I Have a Dream

Buy a book containing this speech at Amazon Buy a book containing this speech at Amazon
Read the full transcript of I Have a Dream at americanrhetoric.com

More information about this quote

Topic

Declaration of Independence US Constitution The Founders American founding Civil rights American politics

Speaker

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Source

I Have a Dream

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "I Have a Dream." March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. 28 Aug. 1963, Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC, USA.

We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Buy a book containing this quote at Amazon Buy a book containing this quote at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Civil rights Moral progress Progress Justice

Speaker

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Source

Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution

Medium

Sermon

Statement Type

Prophecies and predictions

Language

English

Time

1968 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution." 31 Mar. 1968, National Cathedral, Washington, DC, USA. Sermon.

I was born by the river
In a little tent
And just like the river
I've been runnin' ever since
It's been a long, a long time comin'
But I know a change gon' come.

Sam Cooke

A Change Is Gonna Come

Listen to A Change Is Gonna Come at Amazon Listen to A Change Is Gonna Come at Amazon
Read the lyrics to this song at genius.com

More information about this quote

Topic

Civil rights Social progress Political progress

Speaker

Sam Cooke

Source

A Change Is Gonna Come

Medium

Song

Language

English

Time

1964 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Cooke, Sam. "A Change Is Gonna Come." Ain't That Good News. RCA Victor, 1964.

Segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever!

George Wallace

More information about this quote

Topic

Jim Crow Segregation Civil rights

Speaker

George Wallace

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Statement Type

Prophecies and predictions

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Era

Civil Rights Movement

Authentication Score 0

Citation

Wallace, George. "Inaugural Speech." 14 Jan. 1963, Alabama State Capitol, Montgomery, AL, USA.

Government action is not the whole answer to the present crisis, but it is an important partial answer. Morals cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. The law cannot make an employer love me, but it can keep him from refusing to hire me because of the color of my skin.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

More information about this quote

Topic

Legality and morality Civil rights

Author

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Language

English

Time

1958 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. Harper & Brothers, 1958, ch. 11.

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life; longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. And I'm happy tonight, I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

I See the Promised Land

Buy a book containing this quote at Amazon Buy a book containing this quote at Amazon
Read the full transcript of this speech at americanrhetoric.com

More information about this quote

Topic

Civil rights Political progress

Speaker

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Source

I See the Promised Land

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1968 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” 3 Apr. 1968, Mason Temple, Memphis, TN, USA.

To separate them from others of similar age and qualifications solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone... We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.

Earl Warren

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

Read this opinion at supreme.justia.com.

More information about this quote

Topic

Jim Crow Segregation Civil rights

Author

Earl Warren

Source

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka

Medium

Supreme Court opinion Legal opinion

Genre

Legal writing

Language

English

Time

1954 1950s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Warren, Earl. United States, Supreme Court. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. United States Reports, vol. 347, 17 May 1954, pp. 483-496. Justia, supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/347/483/.

"Wait" has almost always meant "Never."

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Buy a book containing this quote at Amazon Buy a book containing this quote at Amazon
Read the Letter From a Birmingham Jail at upenn.edu

More information about this quote

Topic

Civil rights Social progress Political progress Progress Politics

Author

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Source

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Medium

Open letter Letter

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." 16 Apr. 1963.

Current Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail (1963)." A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches, edited by James M. Washington. HarperOne, 2003.

The Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Buy a book containing this quote at Amazon Buy a book containing this quote at Amazon
Read the Letter From a Birmingham Jail at upenn.edu

More information about this quote

Topic

Civil rights Political compromise American politics

Author

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Source

Letter from Birmingham Jail

Medium

Open letter Letter

Language

English

Time

1963 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 2

Original Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." 16 Apr. 1963.

Current Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. "Letter from a Birmingham City Jail (1963)." A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches, edited by James M. Washington. HarperOne, 2003.

By a plan known only to Providence, the stolen sons and daughters of Africa helped to awaken the conscience of America. The very people traded into slavery helped set America free. My nation's journey toward justice has not been easy, and it is not over. The racial bigotry fed by slavery did not end with slavery or with segregation. And many of the issues that still trouble America have roots in the bitter experience of other times. But however long the journey, our destination is set: liberty and justice for all.

George W. Bush

More information about this quote

Topic

Civil rights American politics

Speaker

George W. Bush

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

2003 2000s 21st century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Bush, George W. Remarks at Goree Island, Senegal. 8 July 2003, Île de Gorée, Dakar, Senegal.

What, then, does the Negro want? His answer is very simple. He wants only what all Americans want. He wants opportunity to make real what the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights say, what the Four Freedoms establish. While he knows these ideals are open to no man completely, he wants only his equal chance to obtain them.

Mary McLeod Bethune

More information about this quote

Topic

Civil rights Equality of opportunity

Author

Mary McLeod Bethune

Source

Certain Unalienable Rights

Medium

Essay

Language

English

Time

1944 1940s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Bethune, Mary McLeod. "Certain Unalienable Rights." What the Negro Wants, edited by Rayford Logan. University of North Carolina Press, 1944.

People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true... No. The only tired I was was tired of giving in.

Rosa Parks

More information about this quote

Topic

Civil rights Standing up for what's right Fighting for justice Racial equality Equality American politics

Author

Rosa Parks

Source

My Story

Genre

Autobiography and memoir

Language

English

Time

1992 1990s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Parks, Rosa. Rosa Parks: My Story. Dial Books, 1992, ch. 8.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall...abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Buy the Constitution of the United States at Amazon Buy the Constitution of the United States at Amazon
Read Amendments 11-27 of the US Constitution at the National Archives website

More information about this quote

Topic

Fourteenth Amendment Civil rights Civil Rights Amendments

Source

Constitution of the United States

Genre

Political literature

Language

English

Time

1789 1780s 18th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

United States Constitution. Amend. 14.

Current Citation

The Constitution of the United States. The Constitution of the United States and The Declaration of Independence. Written by Delegates of The Constitutional Convention. Racehorse, 2016, amend. 14.

Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Ethical Demands for Integration

Buy a book containing this quote at Amazon Buy a book containing this quote at Amazon

More information about this quote

Topic

Civil rights Law

Speaker

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Source

The Ethical Demands for Integration

Medium

Speech

Language

English

Time

1962 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

King, Martin Luther, Jr. “The Ethical Demands for Integration.” 27 Dec. 1962, University of Vanderbilt Law School, Nashville, TN, USA.

We are not fighting for integration, nor are we fighting for separation. We are fighting for recognition as human beings. We are fighting for...human rights.

Malcolm X

More information about this quote

Topic

Civil rights

Speaker

Malcolm X

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1964 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Original Citation

Malcolm X. "The Black Revolution." Militant Labor Forum. 8 Apr. 1964, New York City, NY, USA.

Current Citation

Malcolm X. "The Black Revolution." Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements, edited by George Breitman. Grove Press, 1994.

The effects of the late civil strife have been to free the slave and make him a citizen. Yet he is not possessed of the civil rights which citizenship should carry with it. This is wrong, and should be corrected.

Ulysses S. Grant

Second Inaugural Address of Ulysses S. Grant

Buy a book containing this speech at Amazon Buy a book containing this speech at Amazon
Read this speech at UVA's Miller Center website

More information about this quote

Topic

Reconstruction Civil rights

Speaker

Ulysses S. Grant

Source

Second Inaugural Address of Ulysses S. Grant Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1873 1870s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Grant, Ulysses S. "Second Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1873, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Under our institutions there was no middle ground for the negro race between slavery and equal citizenship. There can be no permanent disfranchised peasantry in the United States.

James A. Garfield

Inaugural Address of James A. Garfield

Buy a book containing this speech at Amazon Buy a book containing this speech at Amazon
Read this speech at UVA's Miller Center website

More information about this quote

Topic

Civil rights

Speaker

James A. Garfield

Source

Inaugural Address of James A. Garfield Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1881 1880s 19th century

Authentication Score 2

Citation

Garfield, James A. "Inaugural Address." 4 Mar. 1881, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.

Maybe you can't override prejudice overnight, but the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863, ninety-odd years ago. I believe in gradualism. I also believe that ninety-odd years is pretty gradual.

Thurgood Marshall

More information about this quote

Topic

Civil rights Social progress Political progress Progress American politics

Speaker

Thurgood Marshall

Medium

Interview

Language

English

Time

1987 1980s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Marshall, Thurgood. "Fighting Back: 1957-1962." Eyes on the Prize, created by Henry Hampton, performances by Thurgood Marshall, season 1, episode 2, Blackside, 1987.

No man can be fully free while his neighbor is not. To go forward at all is to go forward together. This means black and white together, as one nation, not two. The laws have caught up with our conscience. What remains is to give life to what is in the law: to ensure at last that as all are born equal in dignity before God, all are born equal in dignity before man.

Richard Nixon

First Inaugural Address of Richard Nixon

Buy a book containing this speech at Amazon Buy a book containing this speech at Amazon
Read this speech at UVA's Miller Center website

More information about this quote

Topic

Interconnectedness of all people Civil rights Equality American politics

Speaker

Richard Nixon

Source

First Inaugural Address of Richard Nixon Presidential inaugural address

Medium

Speech

Genre

Political speech

Language

English

Time

1969 1960s 20th century

Authentication Score 3

Citation

Nixon, Richard. "First Inaugural Address." 20 Jan. 1969, East Portico, US Capitol Building, Washington, DC, USA.