--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our internal racism is still alive. We…" description: "\"Our internal racism is still alive. We are still putting each other down and making jokes about each other because of the color of our skin. With women..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10b/bill-duke-10801_beauty_our-internal-racism-is-still-alive-we-ar_1501482.jpg" --- # Our internal racism is still alive. We are still putting… ![“Our internal racism is still alive. We are still putting each other down and making jokes about each other because of the color of our skin. With women particularly, it's difficult because the beauty business says, 'If you don't look a certain way, God made a mistake.'” quote by Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10b/bill-duke-10801_beauty_our-internal-racism-is-still-alive-we-ar_1501482.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10b/bill-duke-10801_beauty_our-internal-racism-is-still-alive-we-ar_1501482.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10b/bill-duke-10801_beauty_our-internal-racism-is-still-alive-we-ar_1501482.jpg) > “Our internal racism is still alive. We are still putting each other down and making jokes about each other because of the color of our skin. With women particularly, it's difficult because the beauty business says, 'If you don't look a certain way, God made a mistake.'” [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote highlights ongoing internal racism and how societal standards, especially in beauty, reinforce prejudice and self‑deprecation based on skin color. **In simple terms:** Internal racism persists, fueled by beauty standards that shame differences. Key Takeaway Challenge and change harmful beauty norms. Themes racism beauty standards self‑image gender social pressure Mood frustrated determined hopeful Type social commentary motivational reflective When to use this quote - workplace - media - personal relationships - education - policy advocacy Key Concepts internalized bias media influence intersectionality Questions to Reflect On - How do beauty standards shape your view of yourself? - What actions can reduce internalized racism? A Different Perspective Changing deep‑seated attitudes is slow and meets resistance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beauty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Color Skin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/color-skin/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/god/) [Internal Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/internal-racism-5505987/) [Look](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Racism Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism-alive-252553/) [Skin Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/skin-women-723514/) [Women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women/) [Women Particularly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-particularly-887249/) ## Related quotes > [Dark skin women are so beautiful and I feel like people forget. Real talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/goldlink/dark-skin-women-are-so-beautiful-and-i-feel-like-people-forget-real/) [Goldlink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/goldlink/) > [Beauty judgements are many and while we think that light skin women have no judgements to deal with. There is this filmmaker I love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dia-mirza/beauty-judgements-are-many-and-while-we-think-that-light-skin-women/) [Dia Mirza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dia-mirza/) > [The fact of the matter is that when you're in pain emotionally about your life, the color of your skin does not matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/the-fact-of-the-matter-is-that-when-you-re-in-pain-emotionally-about/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [My parents never let the color of our skin be an excuse for why we did not succeed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/my-parents-never-let-the-color-of-our-skin-be-an-excuse-for-why-we/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [racism is alive and doing too well in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnnetta-b-cole/racism-is-alive-and-doing-too-well-in-america/) [Johnnetta B. Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnnetta-b-cole/) > [It's so hard for me to even acknowledge America without talking about race. If you look at our society, if you look at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-matthews/it-s-so-hard-for-me-to-even-acknowledge-america-without-talking-about/) [Dave Matthews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-matthews/) > [In this world we live in, racism is alive and well in all venues. We immediately categorize people, and that's just not right. As…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-anne-tuohy/in-this-world-we-live-in-racism-is-alive-and-well-in-all-venues-we-2/) [Leigh Anne Tuohy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-anne-tuohy/) > [We keep racism alive. We pass it on to our children. I think that is very sad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruby-bridges/we-keep-racism-alive-we-pass-it-on-to-our-children-i-think-that-is/) [Ruby Bridges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruby-bridges/) > [I hate to tell you, but racism is alive and well in a lot of parts of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-olyphant/i-hate-to-tell-you-but-racism-is-alive-and-well-in-a-lot-of-parts-of/) [Timothy Olyphant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-olyphant/) > [Racism is alive and well in this country; we have to learn how to love someone who doesn't look like us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-anne-tuohy/racism-is-alive-and-well-in-this-country-we-have-to-learn-how-to-love/) [Leigh Anne Tuohy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-anne-tuohy/) > [I am not naive, and I do realize that racism is alive and well in the United States of America. I am also fully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maysoon-zayid/i-am-not-naive-and-i-do-realize-that-racism-is-alive-and-well-in-the/) [Maysoon Zayid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maysoon-zayid/) > [In this world we live in, racism is alive and well in all venues. We immediately categorize people, and that's just not right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-anne-tuohy/in-this-world-we-live-in-racism-is-alive-and-well-in-all-venues-we/) [Leigh Anne Tuohy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-anne-tuohy/) > [Racism is still alive they just be concealing it](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kanye-west/racism-is-still-alive-they-just-be-concealing-it/) [Kanye West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kanye-west/) > [Judging someone by the color of their skin is ignorant. Their skin complexion has nothing to do with their morals, beliefs or intelligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/judging-someone-by-the-color-of-their-skin-is-ignorant-their-skin/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Acts perpetrated by women, particularly attractive women, get far more media attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mia-bloom/acts-perpetrated-by-women-particularly-attractive-women-get-far-more/) [Mia Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mia-bloom/) ## More by Bill Duke > [It's assumed that light-skinned women have no problems or issues, but they are judged before you know who they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/it-s-assumed-that-light-skinned-women-have-no-problems-or-issues-but/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [I'm a very private person, not much of a party person. That's how I keep my sanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/i-m-a-very-private-person-not-much-of-a-party-person-that-s-how-i/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [Do I see people working harder than me? I can't imagine that but if I do it inspires me to work harder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/do-i-see-people-working-harder-than-me-i-can-t-imagine-that-but-if-i/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [I could direct a very decent Holocaust film, but I don't have the same experience as a young boy who was rocked to sleep…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/i-could-direct-a-very-decent-holocaust-film-but-i-don-t-have-the-same/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [My father worked three jobs, my mother worked two, seven days a week sometimes. And they wouldn't take welfare or social assistance, they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/my-father-worked-three-jobs-my-mother-worked-two-seven-days-a-week/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [I enjoyed 'Predator' a lot, and also 'Get Rich and Die Tryin'.' I really enjoyed that role and playing the O.G.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/i-enjoyed-predator-a-lot-and-also-get-rich-and-die-tryin-i-really/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [I come up in a segregated 1943 atmosphere of segregation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/i-come-up-in-a-segregated-1943-atmosphere-of-segregation/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [I've been very selfish and the women in my life have hated that because of my work ethic. I try not to bring my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/i-ve-been-very-selfish-and-the-women-in-my-life-have-hated-that/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [By healing the internal issues that we can heal as a people, our children don't have to suffer the same agony and pain that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/by-healing-the-internal-issues-that-we-can-heal-as-a-people-our/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [I don't say, 'Francis Ford Coppola, what a wonderful Italian-American director.' I judge him based on his film, his craft, his art. That's the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/i-don-t-say-francis-ford-coppola-what-a-wonderful-italian-american/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [Well, in the '80s and '70s, with the exception of Sidney Poitier and Brock Peters, maybe Ivan Dixon, if you were as big and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/well-in-the-80s-and-70s-with-the-exception-of-sidney-poitier-and/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [I'm an American, but being a black American, my experience is a particular one, my struggles have been particular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/i-m-an-american-but-being-a-black-american-my-experience-is-a/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [How can you compare 'Hollywood Shuffle,' financed through the director's credit cards, and 'Apocalypse Now?' You have to take into consideration the conditions under…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/how-can-you-compare-hollywood-shuffle-financed-through-the-director-s/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [It really upsets me that the media insists on turning 'Do the Right Thing' or 'Boyz N the Hood' into 'black films.' They are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/it-really-upsets-me-that-the-media-insists-on-turning-do-the-right/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) > [Television is an excellent training ground for a director. If you work consistently in television, as I did, you have to come in on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-duke/television-is-an-excellent-training-ground-for-a-director-if-you-work/) [Bill Duke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) [Explore all 63 Bill Duke quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-duke/) ## More Beauty quotes > [We do not want nowadays temples of worship and outward rites and ceremonies. What we really want is an Asram. We want a place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/we-do-not-want-nowadays-temples-of-worship-and-outward-rites-and/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [How could anybody confuse truth with beauty, I thought as I looked at him. Truth came with sunken eyes, bony or scarred, decayed. Its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/how-could-anybody-confuse-truth-with-beauty-i-thought-as-i-looked-at/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [To fathom the power, to witness the beauty, to bathe in the fountain, to swing on the spiral of our divinity, and still be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tool/to-fathom-the-power-to-witness-the-beauty-to-bathe-in-the-fountain-to/) [Tool](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tool/) > [The term "black metal" has become a lot looser, or can include a larger range of sounds and extra-musical aesthetics, not just Satan and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-marston/the-term-black-metal-has-become-a-lot-looser-or-can-include-a-larger/) [Colin Marston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-marston/) > [“We've all met people who are beautiful on the outside, however, when they open their mouths to speak, they have nothing of substance to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/we-ve-all-met-people-who-are-beautiful-on-the-outside-however-when/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [There are various orders of beauty, causing men to make fools of themselves in various styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-eliot/there-are-various-orders-of-beauty-causing-men-to-make-fools-of/) [George Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-eliot/) > [To me, the beauty of a quilt or a dress lies within the stitches and the thought of the person who made them. When…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie/to-me-the-beauty-of-a-quilt-or-a-dress-lies-within-the-stitches-and/) [Natalie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie/) > [“do not misunderstand person by beauty You really do not know its real or Mask on dirty thoughts”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammed-zaki-ansari/do-not-misunderstand-person-by-beauty-you-really-do-not-know-its-real/) [Mohammed Zaki Ansari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammed-zaki-ansari/) > [“I already love in you your beauty, but I am only beginning to love in you that which is eternal and ever precious –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/i-already-love-in-you-your-beauty-but-i-am-only-beginning-to-love-in/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [The more perfect the sight is the more delightful the beautiful object. The more perfect the appetite, the sweeter the food. The more musical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-baxter/the-more-perfect-the-sight-is-the-more-delightful-the-beautiful/) [Richard Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-baxter/) > [Call her beautiful a million times and she won't believe you. Call her ugly once, and she will never forget it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tumblr/call-her-beautiful-a-million-times-and-she-won-t-believe-you-call-her/) [Tumblr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tumblr/) > [Time can but make her beauty over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-butler-yeats/time-can-but-make-her-beauty-over-again/) [William Butler Yeats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-butler-yeats/) > [ The social \[media channel\] isn't about beauty contests and popularity contests. They're a distortion, a caricature of the real thing. It's about trust, connection,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-haque/the-social-media-channel-isn-t-about-beauty-contests-and-popularity/) [Umair Haque](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umair-haque/) > [“What about you? What do you do?” I needed to ask questions, draw him out. I needed to find out all the information I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-avery-ellison/what-about-you-what-do-you-do-i-needed-to-ask-questions-draw-him-out/) [Kate Avery Ellison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-avery-ellison/) [Browse all 24,662 Beauty quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beauty/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Our internal racism is still alive. We are still putting each other down and making jokes about each other because of the color of our skin. 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