--- title: "3 Blacks Quotes By Claudia Rankine" description: "3 Blacks quotes by Claudia Rankine. Plus more from Claudia Rankine and more Blacks sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/318/claudia-rankine-10349_african-americans_because-white-men-can-t-police-their-ima_388492.png" --- > [“because white men can't police their imagination black people are dying”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/because-white-men-can-t-police-their-imagination-black-people-are/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/318/claudia-rankine-10349_african-americans_because-white-men-can-t-police-their-ima_388492.png) > [“I asked another friend what it's like being the mother of a black son. "The condition of black life is one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-asked-another-friend-what-it-s-like-being-the-mother-of-a-black-son/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f3/claudia-rankine-10349_african-americans_i-asked-another-friend-what-it-s-like-be_865887.jpg) > [“The American imagination has never been able to fully recover from its white-supremacist beginnings. Consequently, our laws and attitudes have been straining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/the-american-imagination-has-never-been-able-to-fully-recover-from/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4d/claudia-rankine-10349_african-americans_the-american-imagination-has-never-been_2864452.png) ## Other authors on Blacks - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b004/author-ann-petry-13575.jpg) Ann Petry 9 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blacks/ann-petry/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b001/author-angie-thomas-2699.jpg) Angie Thomas 9 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blacks/angie-thomas/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b002/author-jesse-lee-peterson-5122.jpg) Jesse Lee Peterson 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blacks/jesse-lee-peterson/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b022/author-shelby-steele-84811.jpg) Shelby Steele 7 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blacks/shelby-steele/) - [Martin Luther King Jr 7 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blacks/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b014/author-john-ridley-52179.jpg) John Ridley 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blacks/john-ridley/) - [Clint Smith 6 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blacks/clint-smith/) - [Maya Angelou 5 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blacks/maya-angelou/) ## More by Claudia Rankine > [I don't know about forgiving, but it's an "I'm still here." And it's not just because I have nowhere else to go. It's because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-don-t-know-about-forgiving-but-it-s-an-i-m-still-here-and-it-s-not/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [So you're just moving along and suddenly you get this moment that breaks your ability to continue, and yet you continue. I wanted those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/so-you-re-just-moving-along-and-suddenly-you-get-this-moment-that/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [“because white men can't police their imagination black people are dying”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/because-white-men-can-t-police-their-imagination-black-people-are/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [Whereas if you were writing an op-ed piece or an essay, somebody would be asking, "What's your point?" With poetry you can stay in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/whereas-if-you-were-writing-an-op-ed-piece-or-an-essay-somebody-would/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [Because white men can’t police their imaginations, black men are dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/because-white-men-can-t-police-their-imaginations-black-men-are-dying/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [Define loneliness? Yes. It's what we can't do for each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/define-loneliness-yes-it-s-what-we-can-t-do-for-each-other/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [I asked a lot of friends and people I'd meet, "Can you tell me a story of a micro-aggression that happened to you in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-asked-a-lot-of-friends-and-people-i-d-meet-can-you-tell-me-a-story/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [“The past is a life sentence, a blunt instrument aimed at tomorrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/the-past-is-a-life-sentence-a-blunt-instrument-aimed-at-tomorrow/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [The subject who speaks is situated in relation to the other. This privilege of the other ceases to be incomprehensible once we admit that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/the-subject-who-speaks-is-situated-in-relation-to-the-other-this/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [Where is the safest place when that place / must be someplace other than in the body?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/where-is-the-safest-place-when-that-place-must-be-someplace-other/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [The worst injury is feeling you don't belong so much / to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/the-worst-injury-is-feeling-you-don-t-belong-so-much-to-you/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [I’m not investigating race as much as I’m investigating intimacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-m-not-investigating-race-as-much-as-i-m-investigating-intimacy/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [I am invested in keeping present the forgotten bodies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-am-invested-in-keeping-present-the-forgotten-bodies/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [If you admit to being racist, it says you acknowledge that you are being driven by projections and stereotypes that were formed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/if-you-admit-to-being-racist-it-says-you-acknowledge-that-you-are/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) > [“I asked another friend what it's like being the mother of a black son. "The condition of black life is one of mourning," she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-asked-another-friend-what-it-s-like-being-the-mother-of-a-black-son/) [Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blacks/claudia-rankine/#itemlist", "name": "3 Blacks Quotes By Claudia Rankine", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“because white men can't police their imagination black people are dying”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Claudia Rankine" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/because-white-men-can-t-police-their-imagination-black-people-are/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/318/claudia-rankine-10349_african-americans_because-white-men-can-t-police-their-ima_388492.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/318/claudia-rankine-10349_african-americans_because-white-men-can-t-police-their-ima_388492.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/318/claudia-rankine-10349_african-americans_because-white-men-can-t-police-their-ima_388492.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“because white men can't police their imagination black people are dying” — Claudia Rankine", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I asked another friend what it's like being the mother of a black son. \"The condition of black life is one of mourning,\" she said bluntly. 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Though the white liberal imagination likes to feel temporarily bad about black suffering, there really is no mode of empathy that can replicate the daily strain of knowing that as a black person you can be killed for simply being black: no hands in your pockets, no playing music, no sudden movements, no driving your car, no walking at night, no walking in the day, no turning onto this street, no entering this building, no standing your ground, no standing here, no standing there, no talking back, no playing with toy guns, no living while black.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Claudia Rankine" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-asked-another-friend-what-it-s-like-being-the-mother-of-a-black-son/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f3/claudia-rankine-10349_african-americans_i-asked-another-friend-what-it-s-like-be_865887.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f3/claudia-rankine-10349_african-americans_i-asked-another-friend-what-it-s-like-be_865887.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f3/claudia-rankine-10349_african-americans_i-asked-another-friend-what-it-s-like-be_865887.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I asked another friend what it's like being the mother of a black son. \"The condition of black life is one…” — Claudia Rankine", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The American imagination has never been able to fully recover from its white-supremacist beginnings. 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