--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Blackness remains the coat you can't take…" description: "\"Blackness remains the coat you can't take off.\" — Clint Smith" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7aa/clint-smith-4108_blackness_blackness-remains-the-coat-you-can-t-tak_802393.jpg" --- # Blackness remains the coat you can't take off. ![“Blackness remains the coat you can't take off.” quote by Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7aa/clint-smith-4108_blackness_blackness-remains-the-coat-you-can-t-tak_802393.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7aa/clint-smith-4108_blackness_blackness-remains-the-coat-you-can-t-tak_802393.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7aa/clint-smith-4108_blackness_blackness-remains-the-coat-you-can-t-tak_802393.jpg) > “Blackness remains the coat you can't take off.” [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Identity is portrayed as an immutable mark that society imposes, shaping experience and perception. **In simple terms:** Identity is an unremovable label. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge imposed identities. Themes race identity societal perception resilience Mood reflective somber Type poetic social commentary When to use this quote - personal narrative - public discourse - activism - education Key Concepts Intersectionality social labeling internalized oppression Questions to Reflect On - How does society reinforce immutable identities? - Can personal agency reshape imposed labels? A Different Perspective Identity can be fluid despite external labeling. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Blackness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blackness/) [Blackness Remains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blackness-remains-6141229/) [Coat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coat/) [Remains](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remains/) [Remains Coat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remains-coat-6141230/) [Take](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/take/) [You](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you/) ## Related quotes > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. Now I am living on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/sure-i-m-dramatic-and-sloppily-semi-cynical-and-semi-sentimental-but/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [It made her think of Laika, the dog. The man-made satellite streaking soundlessly across the blackness of outer space. The dark, lustrous eyes of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/it-made-her-think-of-laika-the-dog-the-man-made-satellite-streaking/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [all outcast peoples struggle to be recognized as individuals. The damage of oppression is that it robs you of your individuality. You're just a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-mae-brown/all-outcast-peoples-struggle-to-be-recognized-as-individuals-the/) [Rita Mae Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-mae-brown/) > [“A Black Madonna: the blackness of death, but also the blackness of good soil, dark with decay, which gives rise to life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/a-black-madonna-the-blackness-of-death-but-also-the-blackness-of-good/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [There's so much material out there that's unnecessarily racist. It takes a shot at what is 'urban' or demonstrates blackness with some sassy, neck-jiving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-williams/there-s-so-much-material-out-there-that-s-unnecessarily-racist-it/) [Jesse Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-williams/) > [Life is fleeting. And if you're ever distressed, cast your eyes to the summer sky when when the stars are strung across the velvety…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/life-is-fleeting-and-if-you-re-ever-distressed-cast-your-eyes-to-the/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [If you have money and you have fame, but you don't have any confidence in your blackness, then it's all for nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mooney/if-you-have-money-and-you-have-fame-but-you-don-t-have-any-confidence/) [Paul Mooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mooney/) > [I kept staring into the blackness of the woods, drawn into the darkness as I always had been. I suddenly realized how alone I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-easton-ellis/i-kept-staring-into-the-blackness-of-the-woods-drawn-into-the/) [Bret Easton Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-easton-ellis/) > [I'm just challenging white supremacy at its intellectual heart every day. It's a pedagogy that I deploy against some of the most vicious resistance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/i-m-just-challenging-white-supremacy-at-its-intellectual-heart-every/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [Despair was a heavy blackness that let no light in or out. It was a hell beyond expression. I thank God it always passed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/despair-was-a-heavy-blackness-that-let-no-light-in-or-out-it-was-a/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [One time he was asked if he believed in an afterlife. After a moment's hesitation he said no, that he thought there was only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/one-time-he-was-asked-if-he-believed-in-an-afterlife-after-a-moment-s/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [As a queer woman of colour I've been asked to be more urban, as if my brand of Blackness wasn't quite Black enough. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariana-debose/as-a-queer-woman-of-colour-i-ve-been-asked-to-be-more-urban-as-if-my/) [Ariana DeBose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariana-debose/) > [You know,” he said, “I wish you could see this cave.” “What’s it like?” He paused. “It’s...beautiful, really.” “Tell me.” And so Po described…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/you-know-he-said-i-wish-you-could-see-this-cave-what-s-it-like-he/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [“The worst fear of the race yes, the world suddenly transformed into a senseless nightmare, horrible dissolution of things. Nothing compares, even oblivion is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/the-worst-fear-of-the-race-yes-the-world-suddenly-transformed-into-a/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [The blackness would stir and eventually go away, and God would remain, a shining point of light in my heart. I would go on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/the-blackness-would-stir-and-eventually-go-away-and-god-would-remain/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) ## More by Clint Smith > [Until affirmative action is described and understood as one mechanism by which to make amends for historical wrongdoing against members of marginalized communities, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/until-affirmative-action-is-described-and-understood-as-one-mechanism/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [If our principles are only our principles when it is convenient for us, when they align with our visceral emotional responses, then they are,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/if-our-principles-are-only-our-principles-when-it-is-convenient-for/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [The U.S. prison system, over all, disproportionately affects black and brown people, but people of color are overrepresented to a greater degree in private…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/the-u-s-prison-system-over-all-disproportionately-affects-black-and/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [America's economy cannot be disentangled from the free labor that built it, just as America's culture cannot be unbound from the black artists who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/america-s-economy-cannot-be-disentangled-from-the-free-labor-that/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [In sixth grade, my status as a Boy Scout was not something I went out of my way to share. In fact, I spent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/in-sixth-grade-my-status-as-a-boy-scout-was-not-something-i-went-out/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [The history of racial violence in our country is both omnipresent and unspoken. It is a smog that surrounds us that few will admit…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/the-history-of-racial-violence-in-our-country-is-both-omnipresent-and/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [If you carry a gun, people will call you paranoid. That's ridiculous. If I have a gun, what in the hell do I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/if-you-carry-a-gun-people-will-call-you-paranoid-that-s-ridiculous-if/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [When the power of private prisons is diminished, so, too, is their ability to engage in back-door political lobbying that has an impact on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/when-the-power-of-private-prisons-is-diminished-so-too-is-their/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [Systemic racism always takes a toll, whether it be by bullet or by blood clot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/systemic-racism-always-takes-a-toll-whether-it-be-by-bullet-or-by/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [One does not read a poem by Gwendolyn Brooks with hopes that it will grant him a career in engineering; he does so because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/one-does-not-read-a-poem-by-gwendolyn-brooks-with-hopes-that-it-will/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [Education is a human right - a recognition of dignity that each person should be afforded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/education-is-a-human-right-a-recognition-of-dignity-that-each-person/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [Preparing oneself for the possibility of confronting racism triggers something that slowly chips away at physical and emotional well-being.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/preparing-oneself-for-the-possibility-of-confronting-racism-triggers/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [In my home, guns were not something to be earned or celebrated. Water guns and Nerf guns were not allowed outside. B.B. guns were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/in-my-home-guns-were-not-something-to-be-earned-or-celebrated-water/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [If you're not shootin', you should be loadin'. If you're not loadin, you should be movin', if you're not movin', someone's gonna cut your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/if-you-re-not-shootin-you-should-be-loadin-if-you-re-not-loadin-you/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) > [If you only hear one side of the story, at some point, you have to question who the writer is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/if-you-only-hear-one-side-of-the-story-at-some-point-you-have-to/) [Clint Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) [Explore all 116 Clint Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/) ## More Blackness quotes > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. But, in leisure years I could grow and choose my way. Now I am living on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/sure-i-m-dramatic-and-sloppily-semi-cynical-and-semi-sentimental-but/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“The worst fear of the race yes, the world suddenly transformed into a senseless nightmare, horrible dissolution of things. Nothing compares, even oblivion is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-ligotti/the-worst-fear-of-the-race-yes-the-world-suddenly-transformed-into-a/) [Thomas Ligotti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-ligotti/) > [You know,” he said, “I wish you could see this cave.” “What’s it like?” He paused. “It’s...beautiful, really.” “Tell me.” And so Po described…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristin-cashore/you-know-he-said-i-wish-you-could-see-this-cave-what-s-it-like-he/) [Kristin Cashore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristin-cashore/) > [As a queer woman of colour I've been asked to be more urban, as if my brand of Blackness wasn't quite Black enough. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariana-debose/as-a-queer-woman-of-colour-i-ve-been-asked-to-be-more-urban-as-if-my/) [Ariana DeBose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariana-debose/) > [One time he was asked if he believed in an afterlife. After a moment's hesitation he said no, that he thought there was only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/one-time-he-was-asked-if-he-believed-in-an-afterlife-after-a-moment-s/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Despair was a heavy blackness that let no light in or out. It was a hell beyond expression. I thank God it always passed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/despair-was-a-heavy-blackness-that-let-no-light-in-or-out-it-was-a/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) > [I'm just challenging white supremacy at its intellectual heart every day. It's a pedagogy that I deploy against some of the most vicious resistance…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/i-m-just-challenging-white-supremacy-at-its-intellectual-heart-every/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [I kept staring into the blackness of the woods, drawn into the darkness as I always had been. I suddenly realized how alone I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bret-easton-ellis/i-kept-staring-into-the-blackness-of-the-woods-drawn-into-the/) [Bret Easton Ellis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bret-easton-ellis/) > [If you have money and you have fame, but you don't have any confidence in your blackness, then it's all for nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mooney/if-you-have-money-and-you-have-fame-but-you-don-t-have-any-confidence/) [Paul Mooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mooney/) > [Life is fleeting. And if you're ever distressed, cast your eyes to the summer sky when when the stars are strung across the velvety…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-williams/life-is-fleeting-and-if-you-re-ever-distressed-cast-your-eyes-to-the/) [Robin Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-williams/) > [There's so much material out there that's unnecessarily racist. 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The man-made satellite streaking soundlessly across the blackness of outer space. The dark, lustrous eyes of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/it-made-her-think-of-laika-the-dog-the-man-made-satellite-streaking/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [The blackness would stir and eventually go away, and God would remain, a shining point of light in my heart. I would go on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yann-martel/the-blackness-would-stir-and-eventually-go-away-and-god-would-remain/) [Yann Martel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yann-martel/) [Browse all 248 Blackness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blackness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Blackness remains the coat you can't take off.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Clint Smith" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/blackness-remains-the-coat-you-can-t-take-off/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Blackness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/blackness-remains-the-coat-you-can-t-take-off/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7aa/clint-smith-4108_blackness_blackness-remains-the-coat-you-can-t-tak_802393.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7aa/clint-smith-4108_blackness_blackness-remains-the-coat-you-can-t-tak_802393.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7aa/clint-smith-4108_blackness_blackness-remains-the-coat-you-can-t-tak_802393.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Blackness remains the coat you can't take off.” — Clint Smith", "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": "Clint Smith", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clint-smith/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Blackness remains the coat you can't...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/blackness-remains-the-coat-you-can-t-take-off/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clint-smith/blackness-remains-the-coat-you-can-t-take-off/#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 } } ] } ```