--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For black people, being around white…" description: "\"For black people, being around white people is sometimes like taking care of babies you don't like, babies who throw up on you again and again, but who..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/hilton-als-7671_again-and-again_for-black-people-being-around-white-peop_1929368.jpg" --- # For black people, being around white people is sometimes… ![“For black people, being around white people is sometimes like taking care of babies you don't like, babies who throw up on you again and again, but whom you cannot punish, because they're babies.” quote by Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/hilton-als-7671_again-and-again_for-black-people-being-around-white-peop_1929368.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/hilton-als-7671_again-and-again_for-black-people-being-around-white-peop_1929368.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/hilton-als-7671_again-and-again_for-black-people-being-around-white-peop_1929368.jpg) > “For black people, being around white people is sometimes like taking care of babies you don't like, babies who throw up on you again and again, but whom you cannot punish, because they're babies.” [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Describes the complex, paternalistic dynamics of interracial interactions. **In simple terms:** White care can feel infantilizing and burdensome. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge patronizing attitudes. Themes race power interpersonal dynamics Mood critical empathetic Type essay social commentary When to use this quote - Workplace diversity training - cross‑cultural friendships - media representation Key Concepts Critical race theory social hierarchy Questions to Reflect On - How can allies avoid infantilizing minorities? - What steps foster mutual respect? A Different Perspective May generalize experiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Again and again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/again-and-again/) [Baby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/baby/) [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Black people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-people/) [Care](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/care/) [Like Babies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/like-babies-526054/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-white-331027/) [Punish Babies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punish-babies-3010573/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white/) [White people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white-people/) [You again](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/you-again/) ## Related quotes > [I've never seen a sincere white man, not when it comes to helping black people. Usually things like this are done by white people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/i-ve-never-seen-a-sincere-white-man-not-when-it-comes-to-helping/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [It was just really exciting to see dark people in white people's clothing, or what is perceived as white people garb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/okieriete-onaodowan/it-was-just-really-exciting-to-see-dark-people-in-white-people-s/) [Okieriete Onaodowan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/okieriete-onaodowan/) > [“A course we different! Everybody know colored people and white people ain't the same. But we still just people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-stockett/a-course-we-different-everybody-know-colored-people-and-white-people/) [Kathryn Stockett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-stockett/) > [Every town has the same two malls: the one white people go to and the one white people used to go to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-rock/every-town-has-the-same-two-malls-the-one-white-people-go-to-and-the/) [Chris Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-rock/) > [For black people, being around white people is sometimes like taking care of babies you don't like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/for-black-people-being-around-white-people-is-sometimes-like-taking/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [The one thing I learned is not to say anything about my own paintings. Keep my mouth shut. You'll never stop hearing what you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-stella/the-one-thing-i-learned-is-not-to-say-anything-about-my-own-paintings/) [Frank Stella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-stella/) > [Throughout your life, your inner landscape presents its contents to you again and again. When you are aware of all its elements, you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-zukav/throughout-your-life-your-inner-landscape-presents-its-contents-to/) [Gary Zukav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-zukav/) > [Every challenge takes you a little deeper and awakens you again and again. Without the challenges, you probably would go to back to sleep.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/every-challenge-takes-you-a-little-deeper-and-awakens-you-again-and/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Great soul of Gandhi, cover your ears. You will not want to hear this! Listen, you inbred piece of Ku Klux Krap! You white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-mencia/great-soul-of-gandhi-cover-your-ears-you-will-not-want-to-hear-this/) [Carlos Mencia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-mencia/) > [You got black people in an all-white country and they don't know nothing about themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/you-got-black-people-in-an-all-white-country-and-they-don-t-know/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [The land is ours. It's not European and we have taken it, we have given it to the rightful people... Those of white extraction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-mugabe/the-land-is-ours-it-s-not-european-and-we-have-taken-it-we-have-given/) [Robert Mugabe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-mugabe/) > [Unlike yellow and brown people, the white does not usually believe he can get attention from matter or objects. ... The white goes further.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-ron-hubbard/unlike-yellow-and-brown-people-the-white-does-not-usually-believe-he/) [L. Ron Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-ron-hubbard/) > [You have three people in the White House that are in love with eugenics or whatever it is you would call it today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glenn-beck/you-have-three-people-in-the-white-house-that-are-in-love-with/) [Glenn Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glenn-beck/) > [Oh my God, Karen.. you can't just ask people why they're white.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen/oh-my-god-karen-you-can-t-just-ask-people-why-they-re-white/) [Gretchen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen/) > [You can't just ask people why they're white.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kingsley/you-can-t-just-ask-people-why-they-re-white/) [Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kingsley/) ## More by Hilton Als > [Challenging is good, like good conversation, yes? Who wants to have dinner with the same old easy listening music sounding friends all the time?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/challenging-is-good-like-good-conversation-yes-who-wants-to-have/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [I think someone like Khandi Alexander, who's now on 'Treme,' is one of the most extraordinary actresses I've seen in years. But she's dependent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/i-think-someone-like-khandi-alexander-who-s-now-on-treme-is-one-of/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [I have not seen 'The Lion King.' I don't do black folklore. And I'm black.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/i-have-not-seen-the-lion-king-i-don-t-do-black-folklore-and-i-m-black/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [I think you're not really teaching anyone unless you're learning yourself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/i-think-you-re-not-really-teaching-anyone-unless-you-re-learning/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [I used to always love taking photos, but I would always give a camera away to someone else. Now I don't give the camera…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/i-used-to-always-love-taking-photos-but-i-would-always-give-a-camera/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [If I feel like I haven't really tapped into the essence of the story when I do an assignment, I may revisit it on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/if-i-feel-like-i-haven-t-really-tapped-into-the-essence-of-the-story/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [Inspiration takes many forms, but it's rarely pure.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/inspiration-takes-many-forms-but-it-s-rarely-pure/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [Great sadness can be off putting, hard to comprehend, especially if it hasn't been your experience. It's amazing for me to know now that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/great-sadness-can-be-off-putting-hard-to-comprehend-especially-if-it/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [I think that Tyler Perry's genius really has been to tap into the domestic market. He knows what his audience is based on, having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/i-think-that-tyler-perry-s-genius-really-has-been-to-tap-into-the/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [I love Andre Leon Talley as a person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/i-love-andre-leon-talley-as-a-person/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [I thought of the structure as musical. The first piece, for instance, contains the names/subject matter of every person to come in the book.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/i-thought-of-the-structure-as-musical-the-first-piece-for-instance/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [People have a copyright on their own life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/people-have-a-copyright-on-their-own-life/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [People are quick to make monuments of anything they live long enough to control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/people-are-quick-to-make-monuments-of-anything-they-live-long-enough/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [Racism seduces us with its desire to categorize, shutting out the living and breathing and 'different' world all around us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/racism-seduces-us-with-its-desire-to-categorize-shutting-out-the/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) > [I was so well loved by my mother that if people have any expectations of me I really don't notice because I'm hardest on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/i-was-so-well-loved-by-my-mother-that-if-people-have-any-expectations/) [Hilton Als](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) [Explore all 88 Hilton Als quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/) ## More Again and again quotes > [A human being can only absorb a small amount of the mystical kundalini, you can be exposed again and again to it, but it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/a-human-being-can-only-absorb-a-small-amount-of-the-mystical/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [As in any machine, all the wires must be connected to the mains through one main wire. In the same way, you all must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nirmala-srivastava/as-in-any-machine-all-the-wires-must-be-connected-to-the-mains/) [Nirmala Srivastava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nirmala-srivastava/) > [Because when you work with a different team, the expectations are different and then you deliver in a very different way. You look back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-r-rahman/because-when-you-work-with-a-different-team-the-expectations-are/) [A. R. Rahman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-r-rahman/) > [Again and again I tell God I need help, and God says, 'Well, isn't that fabulous? Because I need help too. So you go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/again-and-again-i-tell-god-i-need-help-and-god-says-well-isn-t-that/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [After this happens again and again, we reach a point were there is nothing but satori, which is what nirvikalpa samadhi is like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/after-this-happens-again-and-again-we-reach-a-point-were-there-is/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Listen, the story of the United States is this: One kid, without anything, walks out of his house, down the road, with nothing but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-bone-burnett/listen-the-story-of-the-united-states-is-this-one-kid-without/) [T Bone Burnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-bone-burnett/) > [The regular division of the plane into congruent figures evoking an association in the observer with a familiar natural object is one of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/the-regular-division-of-the-plane-into-congruent-figures-evoking-an/) [M. C. Escher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-c-escher/) > [Don´t be unnecessarily burdened by the past. Go on closing the chapters that you have read; there is no need to go back again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/don-t-be-unnecessarily-burdened-by-the-past-go-on-closing-the/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [The difference between a winner and a loser - they both failed, but the winner gets back up and does it again and again…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-plitt/the-difference-between-a-winner-and-a-loser-they-both-failed-but-the/) [Greg Plitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-plitt/) > [Owning the intellectual property is like owning land: You need to keep investing in it again and again to get a payoff; you can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-dyson/owning-the-intellectual-property-is-like-owning-land-you-need-to-keep/) [Esther Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-dyson/) > [The key to longevity is to keep doing what you do better than anyone else. We work real hard at that. It's about getting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-lauren/the-key-to-longevity-is-to-keep-doing-what-you-do-better-than-anyone/) [Ralph Lauren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-lauren/) > [You are great young people. I have said again and again, we have the finest generation of young people ever in the history of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/you-are-great-young-people-i-have-said-again-and-again-we-have-the/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [If you find that the reader of popular romances--however uneducated a reader, however bad the romances--goes back to his old favourites again and again,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/if-you-find-that-the-reader-of-popular-romances-however-uneducated-a/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [And while I am talking to you mothers and fathers, I give you one more assurance. I have said this before, but I shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franklin-d-roosevelt/and-while-i-am-talking-to-you-mothers-and-fathers-i-give-you-one-more/) [Franklin D. Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franklin-d-roosevelt/) > [It comes down to risk, again and again. If you risk coming out, if you risk making pictures that aren’t good, you might discover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-meyerowitz/it-comes-down-to-risk-again-and-again-if-you-risk-coming-out-if-you/) [Joel Meyerowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-meyerowitz/) [Browse all 445 Again and again quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/again-and-again/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For black people, being around white people is sometimes like taking care of babies you don't like, babies who throw up on you again and again, but whom you cannot punish, because they're babies.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hilton Als" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/for-black-people-being-around-white-people-is-sometimes-like-taking-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Again and again" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/for-black-people-being-around-white-people-is-sometimes-like-taking-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/hilton-als-7671_again-and-again_for-black-people-being-around-white-peop_1929368.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/hilton-als-7671_again-and-again_for-black-people-being-around-white-peop_1929368.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/254/hilton-als-7671_again-and-again_for-black-people-being-around-white-peop_1929368.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For black people, being around white people is sometimes like taking care of babies you don't like, babies…” — Hilton Als", "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": "Hilton Als", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilton-als/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "For black people, being around white...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/for-black-people-being-around-white-people-is-sometimes-like-taking-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilton-als/for-black-people-being-around-white-people-is-sometimes-like-taking-2/#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 } } ] } ```