---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No white American ever thinks that any…"
description: "\"No white American ever thinks that any other race is wholly civilized until he wears the white man’s clothes, eats the white man’s food, speaks the whi..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/200/booker-t-washington-2277_civilized_no-white-american-ever-thinks-that-any-o_1462625.jpg"
---

#  No white American ever thinks that any other race is…

![“No white American ever thinks that any other race is wholly civilized until he wears the white man’s clothes, eats the white man’s food, speaks the white man’s language, and professes the white man’s religion.” quote by Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/200/booker-t-washington-2277_civilized_no-white-american-ever-thinks-that-any-o_1462625.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/200/booker-t-washington-2277_civilized_no-white-american-ever-thinks-that-any-o_1462625.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/200/booker-t-washington-2277_civilized_no-white-american-ever-thinks-that-any-o_1462625.jpg)

> “No white American ever thinks that any other race is wholly civilized until he wears the white man’s clothes, eats the white man’s food, speaks the white man’s language, and professes the white man’s religion.”

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Cultural assimilation is portrayed as a prerequisite for civil acceptance, revealing racial bias in societal standards.

**In simple terms:** White standards dominate perceptions of civilization.

Key Takeaway

Recognize and challenge imposed cultural norms.

Themes

racism identity assimilation

Mood

critical thoughtful

Type

sociopolitical analytical

When to use this quote

- education
- policy
- media representation

Key Concepts

social hierarchy colonial mindset

Questions to Reflect On

- How does society define “civilized”?
- What are the costs of forced assimilation?

A Different Perspective

Assimilation can erase valuable cultural diversity.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Clothes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clothes/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [White man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-man/)

## Related quotes

> [No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/no-people-is-wholly-civilized-where-a-distinction-is-drawn-between/)

[Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/)

> [Most of black America is in housing projects, without jobs, living on welfare. And this is not the case in 'The Cosby Show,' because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/most-of-black-america-is-in-housing-projects-without-jobs-living-on/)

[August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/)

> [To some Americans, there was no possible way I could naturally be the daughter of this white American; I had to be from someplace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-wagner/to-some-americans-there-was-no-possible-way-i-could-naturally-be-the/)

[Alex Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-wagner/)

> [I sometimes think the contemporary white American is more culturally deprived than the Indian.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-scott-momaday/i-sometimes-think-the-contemporary-white-american-is-more-culturally/)

[N. Scott Momaday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-scott-momaday/)

> [A good many observers have remarked that if equality could come at once, the Negro would not be ready for it. I submit that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-good-many-observers-have-remarked-that-if-equality-could-come-at/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [Well, as a native, as a colonized people you do live in the in between. The thing is I'm native. But necessarily because I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherman-alexie/well-as-a-native-as-a-colonized-people-you-do-live-in-the-in-between/)

[Sherman Alexie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherman-alexie/)

> [America is as much a black country as a white one. The lives and destinies of the white American are bound up inextricably with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amiri-baraka/america-is-as-much-a-black-country-as-a-white-one-the-lives-and/)

[Amiri Baraka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amiri-baraka/)

> [The white American man makes the white American woman maybe not superfluous but just a little kind of decoration. Not really important to turning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/the-white-american-man-makes-the-white-american-woman-maybe-not/)

[Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/)

> [Since that first showing of Foolish Wives I have seemed to walk through vast crowds of people, their white American faces turned towards me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-von-stroheim/since-that-first-showing-of-foolish-wives-i-have-seemed-to-walk/)

[Erich von Stroheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-von-stroheim/)

> [“I now understand that acting like a white American wasn’t just a “When in Rome do as the Romans do” cultural sensibility, but a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debby-irving/i-now-understand-that-acting-like-a-white-american-wasn-t-just-a-when/)

[Debby Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debby-irving/)

> [“In the 1940s a white American man wrote about the sacred myths of other cultures. He decided he knew what they meant better than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-jacob/in-the-1940s-a-white-american-man-wrote-about-the-sacred-myths-of/)

Drew Jacob

> [If you are the normal white American, truth is you don't understand being black in America, and you instinctively underestimate the level of discrimination…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newt-gingrich/if-you-are-the-normal-white-american-truth-is-you-don-t-understand/)

[Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newt-gingrich/)

> [You know, yeah, my dad is white - he's American. His family has been in this country for many, many, many years. And the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-zegler/you-know-yeah-my-dad-is-white-he-s-american-his-family-has-been-in/)

[Rachel Zegler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-zegler/)

> [We do not have an American culture. We have a white American culture and a black American culture. So when those two groups try…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-emerson/we-do-not-have-an-american-culture-we-have-a-white-american-culture/)

[Michael Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-emerson/)

> [Let's hope the Boston Marathon bomber is a white American.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-sirota/let-s-hope-the-boston-marathon-bomber-is-a-white-american/)

[David Sirota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-sirota/)

## More by Booker T. Washington

> [“There are some things that one individual can do for another, and there are some things that one race can do for another. But,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/there-are-some-things-that-one-individual-can-do-for-another-and/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

> [Think about it: we went into slavery pagans; we came out Christians. We went into slavery pieces of property; we came out American citizens.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/think-about-it-we-went-into-slavery-pagans-we-came-out-christians-we/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

> [I let no man drag me down so low as to make me hate him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/i-let-no-man-drag-me-down-so-low-as-to-make-me-hate-him/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

> [The wisest among my race understand that agitations of social equality is the extremist folly, and that progress in the enjoyment of all privileges…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/the-wisest-among-my-race-understand-that-agitations-of-social/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

> [“I began learning long ago that those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/i-began-learning-long-ago-that-those-who-are-happiest-are-those-who/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

> [If you truly want to measure the success of a man, you do not measure it by a position he has achieved, but by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/if-you-truly-want-to-measure-the-success-of-a-man-you-do-not-measure/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

> [The time will come when the Negro in the South will be accorded all the political rights which his ability, character, and material possessions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/the-time-will-come-when-the-negro-in-the-south-will-be-accorded-all/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

> [“Kada smo u kontaktu sa drugim čovekom, mi mu ili pomažemo ili smetamo. Nema trećeg: ili ga vučemo na dole, ili ga izvlačimo na…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/kada-smo-u-kontaktu-sa-drugim-ovekom-mi-mu-ili-poma-emo-ili-smetamo/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

> [Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/excellence-is-to-do-a-common-thing-in-an-uncommon-way/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

> [We must reinforce argument with results.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/we-must-reinforce-argument-with-results/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

> [Mere connection with what is known as a superior race will not permanently carry an individual forward unless the individual has worth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/mere-connection-with-what-is-known-as-a-superior-race-will-not/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

> [No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/no-race-that-has-anything-to-contribute-to-the-markets-of-the-world/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

> [The highest test of the civilization of any race is in its willingness to extend a helping hand to the less fortunate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/the-highest-test-of-the-civilization-of-any-race-is-in-its/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

> [The Negro is not the man farthest down. The condition of the coloured farmer in the most backward parts of the Southern States of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/the-negro-is-not-the-man-farthest-down-the-condition-of-the-coloured/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

> [“it takes no more time to be polite to every one than it does to be rude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/it-takes-no-more-time-to-be-polite-to-every-one-than-it-does-to-be/)

[Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

[Explore all 174 Booker T. Washington quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/)

## More Civilized quotes

> [ That country \[Carthage\] was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-gibbon/that-country-carthage-was-rapidly-sinking-into-the-state-of-barbarism/)

[Edward Gibbon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-gibbon/)

> [Be neither too early in the fashion, nor too long out of it, nor too precisely in it; what custom hath civilized is become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-quarles/be-neither-too-early-in-the-fashion-nor-too-long-out-of-it-nor-too/)

[Francis Quarles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-quarles/)

> [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/)

[Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/)

> [Civilized nations are ones that simply can't endure wrongs or injustice except at home](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-anderson/civilized-nations-are-ones-that-simply-can-t-endure-wrongs-or/)

Joseph Anderson

> [Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-gropius/our-guiding-principle-was-that-design-is-neither-an-intellectual-nor/)

[Walter Gropius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-gropius/)

> [War is not civilized.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/talib-kweli/war-is-not-civilized/)

[Talib Kweli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/talib-kweli/)

> [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/)

[H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/)

> [No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/no-people-is-wholly-civilized-where-a-distinction-is-drawn-between/)

[Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/)

> [Mine was, as it were, the connecting link between wild and cultivated fields; as some states are civilized, and others half-civilized, and others savage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/mine-was-as-it-were-the-connecting-link-between-wild-and-cultivated/)

[Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/)

> [The military mind is indeed a menace. Old-fashioned futurity that sees only men fighting and dying in smoke and fire; hears nothing more civilized…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-o-casey/the-military-mind-is-indeed-a-menace-old-fashioned-futurity-that-sees/)

[Sean O'Casey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-o-casey/)

> [As long as there are prisons, police, armies, navies; we are not civilized. When the Earth joins together and uses the Earth intelligently, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/as-long-as-there-are-prisons-police-armies-navies-we-are-not/)

[Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/)

> [We're all intrigued, in our civilized world that we live in, and curious about how we would get on, on an undiscovered island that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hiddleston/we-re-all-intrigued-in-our-civilized-world-that-we-live-in-and/)

[Tom Hiddleston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hiddleston/)

> [When passions and appetites are stronger than the intellect, men are savages; when the intellect governs the passions, when the passions are servants, men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/when-passions-and-appetites-are-stronger-than-the-intellect-men-are/)

[Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/)

> [The malady of civilized man is his knowledge of death. The good artist, like the wise man, addresses himself to life and invests with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/the-malady-of-civilized-man-is-his-knowledge-of-death-the-good-artist/)

[Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/)

> [Savage peoples are ruled by passion, civilized peoples by the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/savage-peoples-are-ruled-by-passion-civilized-peoples-by-the-mind/)

[Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/)

Browse all 1,043 Civilized quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "No white American ever thinks that any other race is wholly civilized until he wears the white man’s clothes, eats the white man’s food, speaks the white man’s language, and professes the white man’s religion.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Booker T. Washington"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/no-white-american-ever-thinks-that-any-other-race-is-wholly-civilized/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Civilized"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/no-white-american-ever-thinks-that-any-other-race-is-wholly-civilized/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/200/booker-t-washington-2277_civilized_no-white-american-ever-thinks-that-any-o_1462625.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/200/booker-t-washington-2277_civilized_no-white-american-ever-thinks-that-any-o_1462625.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/200/booker-t-washington-2277_civilized_no-white-american-ever-thinks-that-any-o_1462625.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“No white American ever thinks that any other race is wholly civilized until he wears the white man’s…” — Booker T. Washington",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Booker T. Washington",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "No white American ever thinks that...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/no-white-american-ever-thinks-that-any-other-race-is-wholly-civilized/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/no-white-american-ever-thinks-that-any-other-race-is-wholly-civilized/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```