In Ethiopia, the black people became Christians 1700 years ago, hundreds of years before Northern Europe turned to Christianity... And here, most… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
In 1957, when I was in second grade, black children integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. We watched it on… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
Wherever you go in the history of America, there have been Black people making contributions, but their contributions have been obscured, lost,… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
Ever since I watched 'Roots,' I've dreamed of tracing my African ancestry and helping other people do the same. — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
The only people who live in a post-black world are four people who live in a little white house on Pennsylvania Avenue.… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
The Dominican Republic says 'We're black behind the ears.' And in Mexico, 'there's a black grandma in the closet.' They know, they've… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
The biggest surprise for me, without a doubt, was that the first black people who came to the United States weren't the… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
The thing about living in a village at the foot of a mountain is that the world for you becomes, without thinking… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
We have chaos reigning in the Middle East. There is a great deal of instability. In the past, people would have turned… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
I got a letter from this lady of Russian and Jewish descent. She asked me if I was a racist because I… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
Thousand years ago, we all descended from Africans who left the continent. Those ancestors, we will never know their name. We can… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
What people forget is that the most radical thing about Obama is that he was the first black man in history to… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
For as long as I can remember, I have been passionately intrigued by 'Africa,' by the word itself, by its flora and… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
If you don't tell your stories, other people will tell their story about you. It's important that we nurture and protect these… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
One principle I've been fighting for that doesn't endear me to a lot of people is that black people can be just… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
Everybody wants to have sex - you don't have to have a baby when you're 16. You don't have to do drugs.… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
I first learned that there were black people living in some place called other than the United States in the western hemisphere… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
People are afraid, and when people are afraid, when their pie is shrinking, they look for somebody to hate. They look for… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
People who own property feel a sense of ownership in their future and their society. They study, save, work, strive and vote.… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
So, the kind of precious memories about being black for my generation won't exist for my kids' and grandkids' generations unless we… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
I think that we need more economic-based solutions to the problems afflicting the Black community, and I think that that's a way… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
People don't realize what a brilliant politician Lincoln was. Looking back, we want to ascribe a level of providence to his every… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
Patriotism is best exemplified through auto-critique. When you're willing to stand up within the group and say, 'It is wrong for Black… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
The first slave came to Florida in 1526. The first one we know by name, Esteban, which means Stephen, came a couple… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
I think that is what we do by preserving and telling our stories. If you don't tell your stories, other people will… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
In Ethiopia, the black people became Christians 1700 years ago, hundreds of years before Northern Europe turned to Christianity... And here, most of the… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
Politicians will not put forth programs aimed at the problems of poor blacks while their turnout remains so low. — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
I'm a tech geek. Whenever I read about something new, I think to myself, How can I take this and make it black? — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
I think that the implication of King's assassination has not been fully appreciated. — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
I want to be remembered as someone who tried to bring the story of our ancestors to the broadest possible audience. I want to… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
In 1957, when I was in second grade, black children integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. We watched it on TV. All… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
Since the day Martin Luther King was killed, the black middle classes have almost quadrupled, but the percentage of black children living on or… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
Because Lincoln is so closely identified with what it is to be American, everyone wants to claim him, to rewrite his story to satisfy… — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
My grandfather was coloured, my father was Negro, and I am Black. — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
Wherever you go in the history of America, there have been Black people making contributions, but their contributions have been obscured, lost, buried. — Henry Louis Gates Copy Share Image
