I was taught to see racism only in individual acts of meanness, not in invisible systems conferring dominance on my group

White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, codebooks, visas, clothes, tools, and blank checks.

I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege.

one question for me and others like me is whether ... we will get truly distressed, even outraged, about unearned race advantage and conferred dominance and, if so, what we will do to lessen them.

Most talk by whites about equal opportunity seems to me now to be about equal opportunity to try to get into a position of dominance while denying that systems of dominance exist.

Power from unearned privilege can look like strength when it is in fact permission to escape or to dominate.

If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones.

I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having my co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of my race.

Your need to feel significant will never be met, until you can conquer your fear and manage your focus.

Perspective seasons meaning with sprinkles of time.

Jess wasn't religious. Not even a little bit. She thought all gods were basically big bully-boy cops dreamed up by people who wanted the laws they liked on Earth to be true everywhere else.

Quality in a classical Greek sense is how to live with grace and intelligence, with bravery and mercy.

Because the machine will try to grind you into dust anyway, whether or not we speak.

I think that rather being overly-friendly at first, having a cold first impression and slowly making them realize that I'm not that cold is better.

This is not a rock opera. This is not Tommy. I can write songs that emote, and that's it.

My dad's probably one of the kindest people in the world. When I was younger that's not how I was- I was a little spoiled brat.

In times of adversity - for the country we love - Maryland always chooses to move forward. Progress is a choice. Job creation is a choice. Whether we move forward or back: this too is a choice.

I stand for judgment: answer: shall I have it?