--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This white man who is saying \"it takes…" description: "\"This white man who is saying \"it takes time.\" For three hundred and more years they have had \"time,\" and now it is time for them to listen.\" — Fannie L..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ee/fannie-lou-hamer-3999_hundred_this-white-man-who-is-saying-it-takes-ti_3187263.png" --- # This white man who is saying "it takes time." For three… ![“This white man who is saying "it takes time." For three hundred and more years they have had "time," and now it is time for them to listen.” quote by Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ee/fannie-lou-hamer-3999_hundred_this-white-man-who-is-saying-it-takes-ti_3187263.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ee/fannie-lou-hamer-3999_hundred_this-white-man-who-is-saying-it-takes-ti_3187263.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ee/fannie-lou-hamer-3999_hundred_this-white-man-who-is-saying-it-takes-ti_3187263.png) > “This white man who is saying "it takes time." For three hundred and more years they have had "time," and now it is time for them to listen.” [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Calls for marginalized voices to be heard after centuries of oppression. **In simple terms:** Listen to those long ignored. Key Takeaway Amplify unheard perspectives. Themes justice voice history activism Mood urgent determined Type activist political When to use this quote - civil rights protests - community meetings - policy advocacy Key Concepts systemic racism intergenerational trauma political agency Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions ensure genuine inclusion? - What actions turn listening into change? A Different Perspective Change requires structural shifts beyond listening. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [White man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-man/) ## Related quotes > [“People talk a lot because nobody takes their time to listen to them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alin-sav/people-talk-a-lot-because-nobody-takes-their-time-to-listen-to-them/) [Alin Sav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alin-sav/) > [These days that wouldn't happen - waiting for the light to be exactly right. Because it takes time and time is money. And with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vilmos-zsigmond/these-days-that-wouldn-t-happen-waiting-for-the-light-to-be-exactly/) [Vilmos Zsigmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vilmos-zsigmond/) > [If you want success, you have to work hard at it and realize that it takes time; it doesn't come to you overnight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vernon-davis/if-you-want-success-you-have-to-work-hard-at-it-and-realize-that-it/) [Vernon Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vernon-davis/) > [I'm not going to say paint is an easy spruce-up. It takes time, it needs touch-ups, and you have to be very methodical. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nate-berkus/i-m-not-going-to-say-paint-is-an-easy-spruce-up-it-takes-time-it/) [Nate Berkus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nate-berkus/) > [It takes time for people to get to know a cause or an organization.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hughes/it-takes-time-for-people-to-get-to-know-a-cause-or-an-organization/) [Chris Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hughes/) > [In the beginning I pushed toward perfection, but it takes time to get to certain places.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-wang/in-the-beginning-i-pushed-toward-perfection-but-it-takes-time-to-get/) [Alexander Wang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-wang/) > [It takes time to get the whole package. Freshmen can't be seniors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-leyland/it-takes-time-to-get-the-whole-package-freshmen-can-t-be-seniors/) [Jim Leyland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-leyland/) > [It takes time to become myself every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lady-gaga/it-takes-time-to-become-myself-every-morning/) [Lady Gaga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lady-gaga/) > [I’ve had so many knives stuck into me, when they hand me a flower I can’t quite make out what it is. It takes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/i-ve-had-so-many-knives-stuck-into-me-when-they-hand-me-a-flower-i/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [It takes time to live. Like any work of art, life needs to be thought about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/it-takes-time-to-live-like-any-work-of-art-life-needs-to-be-thought/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [It takes time to really get to know someone. Take the time because in the early months of a relationship, both parties are in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeanne-phillips/it-takes-time-to-really-get-to-know-someone-take-the-time-because-in/) [Jeanne Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeanne-phillips/) > [It's hard to read real fiction. It takes time. It takes a sustained attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-busch/it-s-hard-to-read-real-fiction-it-takes-time-it-takes-a-sustained/) [Frederick Busch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-busch/) > [My experience in TV is that it takes time for shows to find their way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-kroll/my-experience-in-tv-is-that-it-takes-time-for-shows-to-find-their-way/) [Nick Kroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-kroll/) > [It takes time to learn to draw. It takes years, not a few weeks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilberto-hernandez-guerrero/it-takes-time-to-learn-to-draw-it-takes-years-not-a-few-weeks/) [Gilberto Hernandez Guerrero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilberto-hernandez-guerrero/) > [It takes time to get a dance right, to create something memorable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fred-astaire/it-takes-time-to-get-a-dance-right-to-create-something-memorable/) [Fred Astaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fred-astaire/) ## More by Fannie Lou Hamer > [We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-have-to-build-our-own-power-we-have-to-win-every-single-political/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [You know what really made me sick? I was in Washington, D.C. at another time reading in a paper where the U.S. gives Byron…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/you-know-what-really-made-me-sick-i-was-in-washington-d-c-at-another/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [It was the 31st of August in 1962 that eighteen of us traveled twenty-six miles to the county courthouse in Indianola to try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/it-was-the-31st-of-august-in-1962-that-eighteen-of-us-traveled-twenty/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/i-am-sick-and-tired-of-being-sick-and-tired/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [ I met one child there eleven years old, speaking three languages \[in Guinea\]. He could speak English, French and Malinke. Speaking my language actually… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/i-met-one-child-there-eleven-years-old-speaking-three-languages-in/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [ ... some of my people could have been left \[in Africa\] and are living there. And I can't understand them and they don't know… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/some-of-my-people-could-have-been-left-in-africa-and-are-living-there/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [I saw in Chicago, on the street where I was visiting my sister-in-law, this "Urban Renewal" and it means one thing: "Negro removal." But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/i-saw-in-chicago-on-the-street-where-i-was-visiting-my-sister-in-law/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [We didnt come all this way for no two seats when all of us is tired,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-didnt-come-all-this-way-for-no-two-seats-when-all-of-us-is-tired/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [The Mississippi is not the only river. There's the Tallahatchie and the Big Black. People have been put in the river year after year,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/the-mississippi-is-not-the-only-river-there-s-the-tallahatchie-and/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [I was in jail when Medgar Evers was murdered and nothing, I mean nothing has been done about that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/i-was-in-jail-when-medgar-evers-was-murdered-and-nothing-i-mean/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [“Whether you have a Ph. D. or no D. we're in this bag together.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/whether-you-have-a-ph-d-or-no-d-we-re-in-this-bag-together/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [What I really feel is necessary is that the black people in this country wil have to upset this apple cart. We can no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/what-i-really-feel-is-necessary-is-that-the-black-people-in-this/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [One day I know the struggle will change. There's got to be a change-not only for Mississippi, not only for the people in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/one-day-i-know-the-struggle-will-change-there-s-got-to-be-a-change/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [A black woman's body was never hers alone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/a-black-woman-s-body-was-never-hers-alone/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [With the people, for the people, by the people. I crack up when I hear it; I say, with the handful, for the handful,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/with-the-people-for-the-people-by-the-people-i-crack-up-when-i-hear/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) [Explore all 118 Fannie Lou Hamer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) ## More Hundred quotes > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [When you have counted eighty years and more, Time and Fate will batter at your door; But if you should survive to be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khushwant-singh/when-you-have-counted-eighty-years-and-more-time-and-fate-will-batter/) [Khushwant Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khushwant-singh/) > [“Most of the time they buy what other people buy. They move in great schools, like bluefish, all identical. There is safety in numbers.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-hughes/most-of-the-time-they-buy-what-other-people-buy-they-move-in-great/) [Robert Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-hughes/) > [Even a liar tells a hundred truths to one lie; he has to, to make the lie good for anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/even-a-liar-tells-a-hundred-truths-to-one-lie-he-has-to-to-make-the/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [We must, however, note that what are usually called the high religions made their appearance within about twenty-five hundred years - most of them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-scott-latourette/we-must-however-note-that-what-are-usually-called-the-high-religions/) [Kenneth Scott Latourette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-scott-latourette/) > [American civil rights leader, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? Lynching is a murder. For the past four hundred years our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/american-civil-rights-leader-where-do-we-go-from-here-chaos-or/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [When it comes down to music, I have no balance. I am 100 percent. It is like full throttle. Five hundred miles an hour.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yanni/when-it-comes-down-to-music-i-have-no-balance-i-am-100-percent-it-is/) [Yanni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yanni/) > [Nearly all the writing of our time is likely to disappear in a hundred years. Certainly most readers - and nearly all critics -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-dirda/nearly-all-the-writing-of-our-time-is-likely-to-disappear-in-a/) [Michael Dirda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-dirda/) > [A hundred years ago Hester Prynne of The Scarlet Letter was given an A for adultery; today she would rate no better than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/a-hundred-years-ago-hester-prynne-of-the-scarlet-letter-was-given-an/) [Peter De Vries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-de-vries/) > [Every time I bestow a vacant office I make a hundred discontented persons and one ingrate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-xiv/every-time-i-bestow-a-vacant-office-i-make-a-hundred-discontented/) [Louis XIV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-xiv/) > [The technology involved in making anything invisible is so infinitely complex that nine hundred and ninety-nine billion, nine hundred and ninety-nine million, nine hundred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/the-technology-involved-in-making-anything-invisible-is-so-infinitely/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [Tradition does not mean a dead town; it does not mean that the living are dead but that the dead are alive. It means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/tradition-does-not-mean-a-dead-town-it-does-not-mean-that-the-living/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [I am hands-on in any project that I am associated with. I just don't want to put my face or name and lend it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-kardashian/i-am-hands-on-in-any-project-that-i-am-associated-with-i-just-don-t/) [Kim Kardashian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-kardashian/) > [The story being told in 'Star Wars' is a classic one. Every few hundred years, the story is retold because we have a tendency…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-lucas/the-story-being-told-in-star-wars-is-a-classic-one-every-few-hundred/) [George Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-lucas/) Browse all 3,414 Hundred quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This white man who is saying \"it takes time.\" For three hundred and more years they have had \"time,\" and now it is time for them to listen.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Fannie Lou Hamer" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/this-white-man-who-is-saying-it-takes-time-for-three-hundred-and-more/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hundred" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/this-white-man-who-is-saying-it-takes-time-for-three-hundred-and-more/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ee/fannie-lou-hamer-3999_hundred_this-white-man-who-is-saying-it-takes-ti_3187263.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ee/fannie-lou-hamer-3999_hundred_this-white-man-who-is-saying-it-takes-ti_3187263.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ee/fannie-lou-hamer-3999_hundred_this-white-man-who-is-saying-it-takes-ti_3187263.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This white man who is saying \"it takes time.\" For three hundred and more years they have had \"time,\" and now…” — Fannie Lou Hamer", "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": "Fannie Lou Hamer", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "This white man who is saying...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/this-white-man-who-is-saying-it-takes-time-for-three-hundred-and-more/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/this-white-man-who-is-saying-it-takes-time-for-three-hundred-and-more/#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 } } ] } ```