--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The most dangerous thing in American…" description: "\"The most dangerous thing in American society is a self-respecting and self-loving black person, because they're on the road to freedom and that means t..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/cornel-west-708_american-society_the-most-dangerous-thing-in-american-soc_1626833.jpg" --- # The most dangerous thing in American society is a… ![“The most dangerous thing in American society is a self-respecting and self-loving black person, because they're on the road to freedom and that means they're gonna run up against the powers that be.” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/cornel-west-708_american-society_the-most-dangerous-thing-in-american-soc_1626833.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/cornel-west-708_american-society_the-most-dangerous-thing-in-american-soc_1626833.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/cornel-west-708_american-society_the-most-dangerous-thing-in-american-soc_1626833.jpg) > “The most dangerous thing in American society is a self-respecting and self-loving black person, because they're on the road to freedom and that means they're gonna run up against the powers that be.” [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A self-respecting Black person threatens oppressive systems because they pursue freedom and challenge existing power structures. **In simple terms:** Black empowerment challenges power. Key Takeaway Embrace self-respect, confront oppression. Themes freedom empowerment race power justice Mood defiant inspirational Type political philosophical When to use this quote - activism - community organizing - education - political advocacy Key Concepts Critical theory systemic oppression identity politics Questions to Reflect On - How can self-respect fuel collective action? - What risks do activists face? A Different Perspective Oppression may adapt, making resistance harder. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American society](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-society/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self loving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-loving/) [Self Respecting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-respecting/) ## Related quotes > [It is a dangerous thing to reform anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/it-is-a-dangerous-thing-to-reform-anyone/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Self-knowledge is a dangerous thing, tending to make man shallow or insane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-shapiro/self-knowledge-is-a-dangerous-thing-tending-to-make-man-shallow-or/) [Karl Shapiro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-shapiro/) > [The constant pressure to bring about conformity is a dangerous thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-roosevelt/the-constant-pressure-to-bring-about-conformity-is-a-dangerous-thing/) [Eleanor Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-roosevelt/) > [Concentrated political power is the most dangerous thing on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolph-rummel/concentrated-political-power-is-the-most-dangerous-thing-on-earth/) [Rudolph Rummel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolph-rummel/) > [ \[A\] theory is a very dangerous thing to have. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/a-theory-is-a-very-dangerous-thing-to-have/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So is a lot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/a-little-knowledge-is-a-dangerous-thing-so-is-a-lot/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Religion is not a nice thing. It is potentially a very dangerous thing because it involves a heady complex of emotions, desires, yearnings and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/religion-is-not-a-nice-thing-it-is-potentially-a-very-dangerous-thing/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [Love is a dangerous thing, it can be great and it can be awful. It might make or break your life. It could even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-leto/love-is-a-dangerous-thing-it-can-be-great-and-it-can-be-awful-it/) [Shannon Leto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-leto/) > [Religion is a very dangerous thing. By that I mean being so caught up in rules and regulations and not focusing on the thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/religion-is-a-very-dangerous-thing-by-that-i-mean-being-so-caught-up/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [Love is the most dangerous thing in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-beals/love-is-the-most-dangerous-thing-in-the-world/) [Jennifer Beals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-beals/) > [When you know who you are, you know who you are. That's the real dangerous thing in Hollywood, because they all want to create…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mooney/when-you-know-who-you-are-you-know-who-you-are-that-s-the-real/) [Paul Mooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mooney/) > [An audience is the most dangerous thing in the world, because they paid, and they're looking at you. And they paid! And there's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-walken/an-audience-is-the-most-dangerous-thing-in-the-world-because-they/) [Christopher Walken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-walken/) > [An intelligence that is not humane is the most dangerous thing in the world .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-montagu/an-intelligence-that-is-not-humane-is-the-most-dangerous-thing-in-the/) [Ashley Montagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-montagu/) > [The most dangerous thing you can do is to take any one impulse of your own nature and set it up as the thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/the-most-dangerous-thing-you-can-do-is-to-take-any-one-impulse-of/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [The most dangerous thing in the world is to have no purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-d-jakes/the-most-dangerous-thing-in-the-world-is-to-have-no-purpose/) [T. D. Jakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-d-jakes/) ## More by Cornel West > [There has certainly been ugly, right-wing hatred targeting Barack Obama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/there-has-certainly-been-ugly-right-wing-hatred-targeting-barack-obama/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I feel as if I have been blessed to undergo a transformation from 'gangster' to 'redeemed sinner with gangster proclivities.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-feel-as-if-i-have-been-blessed-to-undergo-a-transformation-from/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [“Like King, we need to put on our cemetery clothes and be coffin-ready for the next great democratic battle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/like-king-we-need-to-put-on-our-cemetery-clothes-and-be-coffin-ready/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [ “You can't really move forward until you look back. \[From Remaking America panel discussion at George Washington University\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-t-really-move-forward-until-you-look-back-from-remaking/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [When we think of globalization we are thinking in part of structures and institutions that have been developed over time and that have allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/when-we-think-of-globalization-we-are-thinking-in-part-of-structures/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The challenge artists face today is whether to be an underground, unheard genius, or to dilute their art for the marketplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-challenge-artists-face-today-is-whether-to-be-an-underground/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The need of black conservatives to gain the respect of their white peers deeply shapes certain elements of their conservatism. In this regard, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-need-of-black-conservatives-to-gain-the-respect-of-their-white/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/for-me-musicians-are-poets-beethoven-describes-himself-as-a-poet-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I don't draw any distinctions between forms of bigotry or forms of ideology that lose sight of the humanity of people. I can't stand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-don-t-draw-any-distinctions-between-forms-of-bigotry-or-forms-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Barack Obama has domesticated the left in such a way that we feel as if we have no alternative but him...I refuse to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/barack-obama-has-domesticated-the-left-in-such-a-way-that-we-feel-as/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance and relative ignorance about poor people's culture and working people's culture and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-history-of-arrogance-and-relative/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-greatest-gift-you-can-give-someone-is-the-gift-of-inspiration/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [You can see it in terms of the obsession on Wall Street with not just profits but greed, more profit, more profit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-see-it-in-terms-of-the-obsession-on-wall-street-with-not-just/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Anybody who takes Martin Luther King seriously has got to go beyond the standard understanding of who he was, has to connect those dots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/anybody-who-takes-martin-luther-king-seriously-has-got-to-go-beyond/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Explore all 400 Cornel West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## More American society quotes > [The contempt for law and the contempt for the human consequences of lawbreaking go from the bottom to the top of American society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mead/the-contempt-for-law-and-the-contempt-for-the-human-consequences-of/) [Margaret Mead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mead/) > [American society is now remarkably atomized. Political organizations have collapsed. In fact, it seems like even bowling leagues are collapsing. The left has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/american-society-is-now-remarkably-atomized-political-organizations/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I don't see much future for the Americans ... it's a decayed country. And they have their racial problem, and the problem of social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/i-don-t-see-much-future-for-the-americans-it-s-a-decayed-country-and/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [I have tried to defend what is most precious to our American society, a society that is now at war against the forces of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/demian-bichir/i-have-tried-to-defend-what-is-most-precious-to-our-american-society/) [Demian Bichir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/demian-bichir/) > [Cumulatively, American society is sliding toward a new form of 'authoritarian democracy'. Elections continue, free speech is generally protected, institutions operate in accordance with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-a-falk/cumulatively-american-society-is-sliding-toward-a-new-form-of/) [Richard A. Falk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-a-falk/) > [“As a culture, we had no heroes. Certainly not any politician--Barack Obama was then the most admired man in America (and likely still is),…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-vance/as-a-culture-we-had-no-heroes-certainly-not-any-politician-barack/) [J.D. Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-vance/) > [ “The Sexual plight of these children \[those adolescents experimenting sexually\] is officially not mentioned. The revolutionary attack on hypocrisy by Ibsen, Freud, Ellis, Dreiser,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-goodman/the-sexual-plight-of-these-children-those-adolescents-experimenting/) [Paul Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-goodman/) > [Hip-hop is contributing to American society's misogyny and racism, hyper-sexuality anti-Black representations. Hip-Hop isn't setting the standard for misogyny. No one reduces the presidency…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bakari-kitwana/hip-hop-is-contributing-to-american-society-s-misogyny-and-racism/) [Bakari Kitwana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bakari-kitwana/) > [I believe it is essential to have English as the official language of our National Government, for the English language is the tie that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-sensenbrenner/i-believe-it-is-essential-to-have-english-as-the-official-language-of/) [Jim Sensenbrenner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-sensenbrenner/) > [Black people cannot and will not become integrated into American society on any terms but those of self-determination and autonomy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-lerner/black-people-cannot-and-will-not-become-integrated-into-american/) [Gerda Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerda-lerner/) > [Black people in America have to, for their own protection, develop a defense mechanism, and I just grew terribly tired of it. When you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randall-robinson/black-people-in-america-have-to-for-their-own-protection-develop-a/) [Randall Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randall-robinson/) > [Public image is extremely important in American society and I observed personally that the Presidency of John F. Kennedy did much in the public…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-rosovsky/public-image-is-extremely-important-in-american-society-and-i/) [Henry Rosovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-rosovsky/) > [Sometimes, you know, the president is a father-like figure in American society, to most Americans, even today, no matter how cynical we've become. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alec-baldwin/sometimes-you-know-the-president-is-a-father-like-figure-in-american/) [Alec Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alec-baldwin/) > [The family has always been the cornerstone of American society. Our families nurture, preserve, and pass on to each succeeding generation the values we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/the-family-has-always-been-the-cornerstone-of-american-society-our/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [While President Barack Obama has, in one sense, tipped his hand by saying that he wants judges with "empathy" for certain groups, he has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/while-president-barack-obama-has-in-one-sense-tipped-his-hand-by/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) [Browse all 315 American society quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-society/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The most dangerous thing in American society is a self-respecting and self-loving black person, because they're on the road to freedom and that means they're gonna run up against the powers that be.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cornel West" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-most-dangerous-thing-in-american-society-is-a-self-respecting-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "American society" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-most-dangerous-thing-in-american-society-is-a-self-respecting-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/cornel-west-708_american-society_the-most-dangerous-thing-in-american-soc_1626833.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/cornel-west-708_american-society_the-most-dangerous-thing-in-american-soc_1626833.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4f1/cornel-west-708_american-society_the-most-dangerous-thing-in-american-soc_1626833.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The most dangerous thing in American society is a self-respecting and self-loving black person, because…” — Cornel West", "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": "Cornel West", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The most dangerous thing in American...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-most-dangerous-thing-in-american-society-is-a-self-respecting-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-most-dangerous-thing-in-american-society-is-a-self-respecting-and/#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 } } ] } ```