--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's always intrigued me that amidst the…" description: "\"It's always intrigued me that amidst the group called slaves there were individuals who were extremely able, who were extremely colorful, who were powe..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/582/alex-haley-8212_ability_it-s-always-intrigued-me-that-amidst-the_2095434.jpg" --- # It's always intrigued me that amidst the group called… ![“It's always intrigued me that amidst the group called slaves there were individuals who were extremely able, who were extremely colorful, who were powerful personalities, who by no means fit the usual images of slaves. They were people who, through their personalities and abilities, were very…” quote by Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/582/alex-haley-8212_ability_it-s-always-intrigued-me-that-amidst-the_2095434.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/582/alex-haley-8212_ability_it-s-always-intrigued-me-that-amidst-the_2095434.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/582/alex-haley-8212_ability_it-s-always-intrigued-me-that-amidst-the_2095434.jpg) > “It's always intrigued me that amidst the group called slaves there were individuals who were extremely able, who were extremely colorful, who were powerful personalities, who by no means fit the usual images of slaves. They were people who, through their personalities and abilities, were very respected in the community where they lived by both black and white.” [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Some enslaved individuals defied stereotypes, earning respect across racial lines through talent and charisma. **In simple terms:** Exceptional slaves earned cross‑racial respect. Key Takeaway Recognize talent beyond labels. Themes stereotypes respect talent Mood reflective critical Type historical social When to use this quote - historical analysis - education - community leadership Key Concepts social hierarchy identity racial dynamics Questions to Reflect On - How do we balance celebrating individuals with acknowledging systemic injustice? - What criteria define “respect” in oppressive contexts? A Different Perspective Such narratives can overlook systemic oppression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ability](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) [Able](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/able/) [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Black and white](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-and-white/) [Called Slaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/called-slaves-1463589/) [Colorful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/colorful/) [Community](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/community/) [Fit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fit/) [Groups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/groups/) [Images Slaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/images-slaves-4161468/) [Individual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/individual/) [Intrigued](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intrigued/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Personality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personality/) [Powerful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/powerful/) [Powerful person](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/powerful-person/) [Slave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slave/) [Slaves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slaves/) [Slaves Individuals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slaves-individuals-4161467/) [Slaves People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/slaves-people-550372/) [Usual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/usual/) [White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white/) ## Related quotes > [“Slavery may change its form or its name—its essence remains the same. Its essence may be expressed in these words: to be a slave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/slavery-may-change-its-form-or-its-name-its-essence-remains-the-same/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [“On the American Oligarchy "How about the United States?" a man yelled from the audience. "And what about it?" Martin retorted. "The thirteen colonies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/on-the-american-oligarchy-how-about-the-united-states-a-man-yelled/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [Abolition seemed a fantasy when Frederick Douglass called for all slaves to be released.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/abolition-seemed-a-fantasy-when-frederick-douglass-called-for-all/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [In antiquity slaves were, in all honesty called slaves. In the middle ages, they took the name of serfs. Nowadays they are called wage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-bakunin/in-antiquity-slaves-were-in-all-honesty-called-slaves-in-the-middle/) [Mikhail Bakunin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-bakunin/) > [ \[S\]ome people are self-starters, and some people are born lazy. Some people are born victims. Some people are just born to be slaves. Some… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/s-ome-people-are-self-starters-and-some-people-are-born-lazy-some/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [The Islamic people, the Arabs, were the ones who captured Africans, put them in slavery, and sent them to America as slaves. Why would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-robertson/the-islamic-people-the-arabs-were-the-ones-who-captured-africans-put/) [Pat Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-robertson/) > [“Turning, he wondered about the room as he looked it over. In all likelihood, it probably housed slaves before the servants. Slaves. People in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/staci-stallings/turning-he-wondered-about-the-room-as-he-looked-it-over-in-all/) [Staci Stallings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/staci-stallings/) > [If men use their liberty in such a way as to surrender their liberty, are they thereafter any the less slaves? If people by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/if-men-use-their-liberty-in-such-a-way-as-to-surrender-their-liberty/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [“This confirmed my suspicions that citizens were treated more like slaves than people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-besser/this-confirmed-my-suspicions-that-citizens-were-treated-more-like/) [Rebecca Besser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-besser/) > [I am the descendant of slaves, of people that were born from a slave and a slave master.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cory-booker/i-am-the-descendant-of-slaves-of-people-that-were-born-from-a-slave/) [Cory Booker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cory-booker/) > [“In a civilization of wage slaves, where people seek to survive more than to live, mountaineering is an enigma.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erhard-loretan-jean-amman/in-a-civilization-of-wage-slaves-where-people-seek-to-survive-more/) [Erhard Loretan; Jean Amman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erhard-loretan-jean-amman/) > [I'm talkin' about us, the new slaves, the people who love fashion. I'm talking about us, you know? 'Cause I'm a slave to it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/i-m-talkin-about-us-the-new-slaves-the-people-who-love-fashion-i-m/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) > [This is my people. My people were Kanakas. Kanakas are people that were brought from other countries to be slaves. My people were slaved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/levi-brahz/this-is-my-people-my-people-were-kanakas-kanakas-are-people-that-were/) [Levi BrAhZ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/levi-brahz/) > [Good kings are slaves, and their people are free.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-leszczynska/good-kings-are-slaves-and-their-people-are-free/) [Marie Leszczynska](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-leszczynska/) > [A powerful person is not he who out-wrestles others. A powerful person is he who can control himself when angry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prophet-muhammad/a-powerful-person-is-not-he-who-out-wrestles-others-a-powerful-person/) [Prophet Muhammad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prophet-muhammad/) ## More by Alex Haley > [I tell younger writers that indeed it is devastating to be rejected. You feel like the bottom dropped out of your world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-tell-younger-writers-that-indeed-it-is-devastating-to-be-rejected/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [If you're blessed to do something like 'Roots'... you find yourself immersed. You're asked to do this, to do that - all for admirable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/if-you-re-blessed-to-do-something-like-roots-you-find-yourself/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [I think from what I personally know, I am really quite proud of most of the people I know who have 'made it,' who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-think-from-what-i-personally-know-i-am-really-quite-proud-of-most/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [In the bush, trust no one you don't know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/in-the-bush-trust-no-one-you-don-t-know/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/either-you-deal-with-what-is-the-reality-or-you-can-be-sure-that-the/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [I know Juffure was a British trading post and my portrait of the village bears no resemblance to the way it was. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-know-juffure-was-a-british-trading-post-and-my-portrait-of-the/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [I look at my books the way parents look at their children. The fact that one becomes more successful than the others doesn't make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-look-at-my-books-the-way-parents-look-at-their-children-the-fact/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [Never completely encircle your enemy. Leave him some escape, for he will fight even more desperately if trapped.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/never-completely-encircle-your-enemy-leave-him-some-escape-for-he/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [I can't feel Irish to save my soul, but it's a fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-can-t-feel-irish-to-save-my-soul-but-it-s-a-fact/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [Most of the people I've met who are black in other countries look up to the blacks in this country. Though they may talk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/most-of-the-people-i-ve-met-who-are-black-in-other-countries-look-up/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [Early in the spring of 1750, in the village of Juffure, four days upriver from the coast of The Gambia, West Africa, a manchild…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/early-in-the-spring-of-1750-in-the-village-of-juffure-four-days/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [“nightly boiling and then cooling a broth of freshly pounded fudano leaves in which she soaked her feat -and the pale palms of her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/nightly-boiling-and-then-cooling-a-broth-of-freshly-pounded-fudano/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [In all of us there is a hunger, marrow-deep, to know our heritage, to know who we are and where we came from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/in-all-of-us-there-is-a-hunger-marrow-deep-to-know-our-heritage-to/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [If you think about it, there's not a religious group, there's not a nationalistic group, there's not a tribe, there is no grouping of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/if-you-think-about-it-there-s-not-a-religious-group-there-s-not-a/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [Is this how you repay my goodness--with badness?” cried the boy. “Of course,” said the crocodile out of the corner of his mouth. “That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/is-this-how-you-repay-my-goodness-with-badness-cried-the-boy-of/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) [Explore all 83 Alex Haley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) ## More Ability quotes > [I don't think there's a direct correlation between my sexuality and my skiing ability. But I think because I was so concerned about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gus-kenworthy/i-don-t-think-there-s-a-direct-correlation-between-my-sexuality-and/) [Gus Kenworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gus-kenworthy/) > [“the importance of ability. The things that make a great job great, I discovered, are rare and valuable. If you want them in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-newport/the-importance-of-ability-the-things-that-make-a-great-job-great-i/) [Cal Newport](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-newport/) > [Ambition drives you on, ability certainly helps, but the fickle finger of fate and luck are great things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fergus-henderson/ambition-drives-you-on-ability-certainly-helps-but-the-fickle-finger/) [Fergus Henderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fergus-henderson/) > [The ability of the gospel to unite us on common strengths and common truths is one of the great miracles . . . of the gospel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/the-ability-of-the-gospel-to-unite-us-on-common-strengths-and-common/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [Maybe law enforcement would like the ability to turn on the camera on your Mac.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cook/maybe-law-enforcement-would-like-the-ability-to-turn-on-the-camera-on/) [Tim Cook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cook/) > [I've seen guys come along with more ability - they've been faster or bigger or stronger - but they never worked hard to develop…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-largent/i-ve-seen-guys-come-along-with-more-ability-they-ve-been-faster-or/) [Steve Largent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-largent/) > [The youth of India has the strength to move the entire World with a click of a mouse, we have generated that ability!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/the-youth-of-india-has-the-strength-to-move-the-entire-world-with-a/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [Time hath not yet so dried this blood of mine, Nor age so eat up my invention, Nor fortune made such havoc of my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/time-hath-not-yet-so-dried-this-blood-of-mine-nor-age-so-eat-up-my/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [An absolutely necessary part of a writer's equipment, almost as necessary as talent, is the ability to stand up under punishment, both the punishment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-shaw/an-absolutely-necessary-part-of-a-writer-s-equipment-almost-as/) [Irwin Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irwin-shaw/) > [I'd be more frightened by not using whatever abilities I'd been given. I'd be more frightened by procrastination and laziness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-washington/i-d-be-more-frightened-by-not-using-whatever-abilities-i-d-been-given/) [Denzel Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-washington/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [You can only do the work to the very best of your ability.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-baranski/you-can-only-do-the-work-to-the-very-best-of-your-ability/) [Christine Baranski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-baranski/) > [Judge a person not by his ability to make money but by his ability to retain it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/judge-a-person-not-by-his-ability-to-make-money-but-by-his-ability-to/) [Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/) > [Balance is the ability to be happy in the midst of the most chaotic or even boring or transient circumstance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/balance-is-the-ability-to-be-happy-in-the-midst-of-the-most-chaotic/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Bobby had faith in my ability as a singer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-london/bobby-had-faith-in-my-ability-as-a-singer/) [Julie London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-london/) [Browse all 9,990 Ability quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ability/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It's always intrigued me that amidst the group called slaves there were individuals who were extremely able, who were extremely colorful, who were powerful personalities, who by no means fit the usual images of slaves. 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