--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We've done a very poor job at really…" description: "\"We've done a very poor job at really reflecting on our legacy of racial inequality... You see it in the South, but it's everywhere.\" — Bryan Stevenson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/bryan-stevenson-4134_done_we-ve-done-a-very-poor-job-at-really-ref_2819490.png" --- # We've done a very poor job at really reflecting on our… ![“We've done a very poor job at really reflecting on our legacy of racial inequality... You see it in the South, but it's everywhere.” quote by Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/bryan-stevenson-4134_done_we-ve-done-a-very-poor-job-at-really-ref_2819490.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/bryan-stevenson-4134_done_we-ve-done-a-very-poor-job-at-really-ref_2819490.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6c9/bryan-stevenson-4134_done_we-ve-done-a-very-poor-job-at-really-ref_2819490.png) > “We've done a very poor job at really reflecting on our legacy of racial inequality... You see it in the South, but it's everywhere.” [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He critiques America’s inadequate reflection on racial inequality, noting its pervasive presence beyond the South. **In simple terms:** America fails to fully confront widespread racial inequality. Key Takeaway Acknowledge and address systemic racism. Themes social justice history awareness Mood somber urgent Type activist reflective When to use this quote - education - legal advocacy - community organizing - media coverage Key Concepts systemic racism legacy policy reform Questions to Reflect On - How can individuals confront hidden biases? - What actions can institutions take to repair legacy? A Different Perspective Denial can impede progress. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Inequality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inequality/) [Inequality South](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inequality-south-3578489/) [Job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/job/) [Legacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/legacy/) [Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor/) [Poor Job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor-job-2768022/) [Racial Inequality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racial-inequality-311674/) [Reflecting Legacy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reflecting-legacy-3578490/) ## Related quotes > [We're all burdened by our history of racial inequality. It's created a kind of smog that we all breathe in, and it has prevented…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/we-re-all-burdened-by-our-history-of-racial-inequality-it-s-created-a/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [The more I've been able to learn about gay rights and equal pay and gender equity and racial inequality, the more that it all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/megan-rapinoe/the-more-i-ve-been-able-to-learn-about-gay-rights-and-equal-pay-and/) [Megan Rapinoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/megan-rapinoe/) > [It's important to establish why racial inequality exists and then focus on the solution. But it needs facts over feelings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-jordan/it-s-important-to-establish-why-racial-inequality-exists-and-then/) [Simon Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-jordan/) > [Prisoners do matter when analyzing the severity of racial inequality in the U.S. Yet because they are out of sight and out of mind,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-alexander/prisoners-do-matter-when-analyzing-the-severity-of-racial-inequality/) [Michelle Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-alexander/) > [If we truly want to make America great, we need to fix this racial inequality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t/if-we-truly-want-to-make-america-great-we-need-to-fix-this-racial/) [Booker T](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t/) > [We need to intentionally invest in health, in home ownership, in entrepreneurship, in access to democracy, in economic empowerment. If we don't do these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-buttigieg/we-need-to-intentionally-invest-in-health-in-home-ownership-in/) [Pete Buttigieg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-buttigieg/) > [If we had done the work that we should have done in the 20th century to combat our history of racial inequality, no one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/if-we-had-done-the-work-that-we-should-have-done-in-the-20th-century/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [Lynching is an important aspect of racial history and racial inequality in America, because it was visible, it was so public, it was so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/lynching-is-an-important-aspect-of-racial-history-and-racial/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [I'm not sure Roosevelt was quite a monster, he just did a poor job on the economics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amity-shlaes/i-m-not-sure-roosevelt-was-quite-a-monster-he-just-did-a-poor-job-on/) [Amity Shlaes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amity-shlaes/) > [The person who's in the Zen monastery, who's doing a kind of poor job at meditating and a half-ass job cleaning the gardens is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-person-who-s-in-the-zen-monastery-who-s-doing-a-kind-of-poor-job/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The self-made man is often proud of a poor job.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-mumford/the-self-made-man-is-often-proud-of-a-poor-job/) [Ethel Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-mumford/) > [“If you try to do a task at your odd hours, you will waste so much time only to find out that you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sunday-adelaja/if-you-try-to-do-a-task-at-your-odd-hours-you-will-waste-so-much-time/) [Sunday Adelaja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sunday-adelaja/) > [It was a different sexual situation going on than it is in the '80s and '90s, and I did a very poor job of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilt-chamberlain/it-was-a-different-sexual-situation-going-on-than-it-is-in-the-80s/) [Wilt Chamberlain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilt-chamberlain/) > [The poor never get the job done they are sleepy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-poor-never-get-the-job-done-they-are-sleepy/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [“Her granny used to say, We've always been poor as Job's turkey and most likely always will be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silas-house/her-granny-used-to-say-we-ve-always-been-poor-as-job-s-turkey-and/) [Silas House](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silas-house/) ## More by Bryan Stevenson > [I love museums, and I think they're fantastic, but they don't touch the people who I frequently think need to be touched with at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/i-love-museums-and-i-think-they-re-fantastic-but-they-don-t-touch-the/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [I've come to understand and to believe that each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done. I believe that for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/i-ve-come-to-understand-and-to-believe-that-each-of-us-is-more-than/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [I'm persuaded that if most people saw what I see on a regular basis, they would want change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/i-m-persuaded-that-if-most-people-saw-what-i-see-on-a-regular-basis/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [When you come to Montgomery, you see fifty-nine monuments and memorials, all about the Civil War, all about Confederate leaders and generals. We have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/when-you-come-to-montgomery-you-see-fifty-nine-monuments-and/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [“These aren’t my scars, cuts, and bruises. These are my medals of honor.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/these-aren-t-my-scars-cuts-and-bruises-these-are-my-medals-of-honor/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [The Bureau of Justice reports that one in three black male babies born this century will go to jail or prison - that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/the-bureau-of-justice-reports-that-one-in-three-black-male-babies/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [If you're just the person with power, exercising that power fearfully and angrily, you're going to be an operative of injustice and inequality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/if-you-re-just-the-person-with-power-exercising-that-power-fearfully/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [In a landscape littered with all of this imagery about the nobility of the Civil War and the Confederate effort and struggle, the absence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/in-a-landscape-littered-with-all-of-this-imagery-about-the-nobility/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [If you love your community, then you need to be insisting on justice in all circumstances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/if-you-love-your-community-then-you-need-to-be-insisting-on-justice/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [There was never a time you could get the majority of people in Alabama or Mississippi, or even southern Delaware, to vote to end…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/there-was-never-a-time-you-could-get-the-majority-of-people-in/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [I talk about my grandmother a lot, because she's an amazing person - not in some dramatic, distinct, unique way, but anybody who is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/i-talk-about-my-grandmother-a-lot-because-she-s-an-amazing-person-not/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [You can't understand what happened to Michael Brown in Ferguson, you can't understand what happened to Eric Garner in New York City, without understanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/you-can-t-understand-what-happened-to-michael-brown-in-ferguson-you/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [I know this might be broadcast broadly. But I'm 52 years old, and I'm going to admit to you that I've never had a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/i-know-this-might-be-broadcast-broadly-but-i-m-52-years-old-and-i-m/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [Are you the sum total of your worst acts?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/are-you-the-sum-total-of-your-worst-acts/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) > [If we want to be proud of our country, if we want to be proud as Americans, if we want to be proud of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-stevenson/if-we-want-to-be-proud-of-our-country-if-we-want-to-be-proud-as/) [Bryan Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) [Explore all 115 Bryan Stevenson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-stevenson/) ## More Done quotes > [Entertainment is a sacred pursuit when done well. 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