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White Quotes

Honest reflections on identity and race.

This collection gathers personal reflections on racial identity, including memories of growing up in a mostly separate community and the ongoing search for roles that were written with a different actor in mind. It connects to broader conversations in our Black quotes.

Although I wasn't invited to shake hands with Hitler, I wasn't invited to the White House to shake hands with the President either.

Quotes by Jesse Owens

Rhythm and blues started even before phonograph records were being produced because black people entertained themselves. It wasn't done for money. It was done for entertainment. Most white people didn't know anything about this because prejudice kept them from ever...

Quotes by Jesse Stone

The definition of marriage cannot be disputed. It's right there in black and white and it's been the same since the start of Wikipedia.

Quotes by Jesse Tyler Ferguson

If you're a black conservative and you criticize the black community, you're an Uncle Tom. If you're a white conservative and you criticize the black community, you're somehow a racist.

Quotes by Jesse Watters

I have a center at 412 West Chicago Avenue. It's called the Jesse White Community Center and Fieldhouse. It's a state-of-the-art gymnastics facility, game room, weight room, computer lab.

Quotes by Jesse White

I first met Dr. King in 1954 when I was a student at Alabama State University and a member of a local church down there. He was in town to organize a rally against public transportation. Rosa Parks had been...

Quotes by Jesse White

I'm kind of in a middle space, being marketed as a biracial actor. Roles are written either stereotypically black, or they're written 'normal,' which is just code for white.

Quotes by Jesse Williams

You know how Bed Bath & Beyond sells those white noise machines that help you sleep? And they usually make ocean noises? I want one that's just David Gergen gently muttering about the economy.

Quotes by Jessi Klein

I was a kiddie pool attendant, and I was a white rapper. That's not going to get you a job on Wall Street.

Quotes by Jesse Itzler

When they wrote the Constitution, only white male landowners had the right to vote.

Quotes by Jesse Jackson

Negroes' problem is that they do not have their egos. That's why our churches end up having a white service, because our preacher is not arrogant enough to take God's word, so he have to go and get some white...

Quotes by Jesse Jackson

White guilt and the fear of speaking up concerning issues of race and morality is costing this nation greatly.

Quotes by Jesse Lee Peterson

It infuriates me that the work of white American writers can be universal and lay claim to classic texts, while black and female authors are ghetto-ized as 'other.'

Quotes by Jesmyn Ward

I was raised in Mississippi, in a family and a community that identified as black, and I have the stories and the experiences to go with it. One of my great-great grandfathers was killed by a gang of white Prohibition...

Quotes by Jesmyn Ward

Writers of color are given certain messages - explicit or implicit - about what they're allowed to write about or what will be successful if they write about it. And white writers are given another set of implicit and, sometimes,...

Quotes by Jess Row

White writers in many cases choose not to populate their fiction with people of color. A lot of what I'm doing is trying to write against that, not about race but against the avoidance of race that's such a dominant...

Quotes by Jess Row

White Americans have the option of not having to think about race on a daily basis. People of color don't. Race is a major deciding factor in their lives and the histories of their families.

Quotes by Jess Row

As a white teen, I was very drawn to hip-hop culture, almost to the point of disappearing in it - there was a sense of having no sense of authenticity except this one that wasn't mine.

Quotes by Jess Row

I've said this over the years publicly - this is not a lucrative business. My goal every year is to break even with the White Sox.

Quotes by Jerry Reinsdorf

I was brought up in black neighborhoods in South Baltimore. And we really felt like we were very black. We acted black and we spoke black. When I was a kid growing up, where I came from, it was hip...

Quotes by Jerry Leiber

Frequently Asked Questions

What perspectives does this collection of White quotes offer?
These are genuine personal reflections on race, identity, and belonging: growing up in a Cherokee family that lived apart from white neighbors, aspiring to the kind of range actors like Denzel Washington or Jodie Foster get, noticing casual racism secondhand among friends, and a play on words about moving between very different worlds. If you're interested in complementary perspectives, our Black collection is a natural next stop.
Is there a quote about growing up with a segregated experience?
Yes — one quote recalls, "I came from a family that was pretty insularly Cherokee. We kept to ourselves - the white people were there, and we were here, and it was practically a segregated kind of thing." It's a direct, personal account of a divided community growing up.
Is there a quote about aspiring to the kind of roles typically written for white actors?
There is. One quote shares an aspiration "to find scripts written for white actors - or Jodie Foster, who reads scripts for male actors," citing Denzel Washington as an example of someone who does this. It's a thoughtful reflection on range and opportunity in acting.
Is there a quote about experiencing racism secondhand?
Yes — one quote describes it plainly: "My encounters with racism are sort of second-hand situations where I might be standing around with a group of white friends and someone makes a comment that they wouldn't make at my family reunion." It's an honest, specific account rather than a general statement about race relations.
Is there a quote that plays with the phrase 'White House'?
Yes — one quote uses wordplay to make a point about identity: "I can dine at the White House, but I can still hang at the 'hood." It's a clever line about moving comfortably between very different worlds. For a related contrast, see our Black And White collection, or our House collection for more on the word 'house.'

One entry describes a secondhand brush with a racist remark made among friends, a moment worth reading alongside our Black And White quotes, while a lighter closing line plays on the phrase White House, tying into our House quotes.