--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: if there is anything I have learned…" description: "\"“if there is anything I have learned during my research, it’s that the principal producers and defenders of racist ideas will not join us. And no logic..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92d/ibram-x-kendi-3080_first-place_if-there-is-anything-i-have-learned-duri_759536.jpg" --- # if there is anything I have learned during my research… ![“if there is anything I have learned during my research, it’s that the principal producers and defenders of racist ideas will not join us. And no logic or fact or history book can change them, because logic and facts and scholarship have little to do with why they are expressing racist ideas in the…” quote by Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92d/ibram-x-kendi-3080_first-place_if-there-is-anything-i-have-learned-duri_759536.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92d/ibram-x-kendi-3080_first-place_if-there-is-anything-i-have-learned-duri_759536.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92d/ibram-x-kendi-3080_first-place_if-there-is-anything-i-have-learned-duri_759536.jpg) > ““if there is anything I have learned during my research, it’s that the principal producers and defenders of racist ideas will not join us. And no logic or fact or history book can change them, because logic and facts and scholarship have little to do with why they are expressing racist ideas in the first place.”” [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Racist ideas persist because they are driven by motives beyond logic; facts alone cannot change those who are emotionally or ideologically committed to racism. **In simple terms:** Racism isn’t changed by facts alone. Key Takeaway Address underlying motives, not just present, to combat racism. Themes racism psychology social change Mood serious urgent thought‑provoking Type analytical educational When to use this quote - policy making - education reform - community dialogue - activism Key Concepts motivation identity cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - Why do people cling to racist ideas despite evidence? - What approaches can shift underlying motivations? A Different Perspective Changing hearts may require emotional appeal and lived experience, not just data. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [First place](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-place/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Racist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racist/) ## Related quotes > [“I know that readers truly committed to racial equality will join me on this journey of interrogating and shedding our racist ideas. But if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/i-know-that-readers-truly-committed-to-racial-equality-will-join-me/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“Others channeled—or were led to channel—their economic and political frustrations into racist ideas, which then led to more hatred of Black people. It”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/others-channeled-or-were-led-to-channel-their-economic-and-political/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“When you truly believe that the racial groups are equal, then you also believe that racial disparities must be the result of racial discrimination.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/when-you-truly-believe-that-the-racial-groups-are-equal-then-you-also/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [ I learned what research was all about as a research student \[with\] Stoppani ... Max Perutz, and ... Fred Sanger... From them, I always… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-milstein/i-learned-what-research-was-all-about-as-a-research-student-with/) [Cesar Milstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-milstein/) > [“intersectionality”—prejudice stemming from the intersections of racist ideas and other forms of bigotry, such as sexism, classism, ethnocentrism, and homophobia.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/intersectionality-prejudice-stemming-from-the-intersections-of-racist/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“All these self-serving efforts by powerful factions to define their racist rhetoric as nonracist has left Americans thoroughly divided over, and ignorant of, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/all-these-self-serving-efforts-by-powerful-factions-to-define-their/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“The only thing wrong with White people is when they embrace racist ideas and policies and then deny their ideas and policies are racist.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/the-only-thing-wrong-with-white-people-is-when-they-embrace-racist/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“King Kong was stunningly original for showing images of racist ideas—without ever saying a word about Black people,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/king-kong-was-stunningly-original-for-showing-images-of-racist-ideas/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“most probably consumed the racist ideas, distancing themselves from Black people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/most-probably-consumed-the-racist-ideas-distancing-themselves-from/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“Hate and ignorance have not driven the history of racist ideas in America. Racist policies have driven the history of racist ideas in America.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/hate-and-ignorance-have-not-driven-the-history-of-racist-ideas-in/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“The year before, Boyle had jumped into the ring of the racial debate with Of the Nature of Whiteness and Blackness. He rejected both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/the-year-before-boyle-had-jumped-into-the-ring-of-the-racial-debate/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“The vicious housing cycle had already begun. Racist policies harmed Black neighborhoods, generating racist ideas that caused people not to want to live next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/the-vicious-housing-cycle-had-already-begun-racist-policies-harmed/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“Racially discriminatory policies have usually sprung from economic, political, and cultural self-interests, self-interests that are constantly changing. Politicians seeking higher office have primarily created…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/racially-discriminatory-policies-have-usually-sprung-from-economic/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“From the beginning, it has been a three-sided battle, a battle of antiracist ideas being pitted against two kinds of racist ideas at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/from-the-beginning-it-has-been-a-three-sided-battle-a-battle-of/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“most of the leading Enlightenment intellectuals were producers of racist ideas and abolitionist thought.10”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/most-of-the-leading-enlightenment-intellectuals-were-producers-of/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) ## More by Ibram X. Kendi > [“When men oppress their fellowmen, the oppressor ever finds, in the character of the oppressed, a full justification for his oppression.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/when-men-oppress-their-fellowmen-the-oppressor-ever-finds-in-the/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“assimilationists constantly encourage Black adoption of White cultural traits and/or physical ideals.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/assimilationists-constantly-encourage-black-adoption-of-white/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“Enlightenment ideas gave legitimacy to this long-held racist “partiality,” the connection between lightness and Whiteness and reason, on the one hand, and between darkness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/enlightenment-ideas-gave-legitimacy-to-this-long-held-racist/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“Hate and ignorance have not driven the history of racist ideas in America. Racist policies have driven the history of racist ideas in America.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/hate-and-ignorance-have-not-driven-the-history-of-racist-ideas-in/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“From the beginning, it has been a three-sided battle, a battle of antiracist ideas being pitted against two kinds of racist ideas at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/from-the-beginning-it-has-been-a-three-sided-battle-a-battle-of/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“newspaper reports of rape constructed white defendants as individual offenders and black defendants as representative of the failings of their racial group,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/newspaper-reports-of-rape-constructed-white-defendants-as-individual/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“Racist intentions—not policies—became covert after the 1960s.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/racist-intentions-not-policies-became-covert-after-the-1960s/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“Donald Trump’s economic policies are geared toward enriching White male power—but at the expense of most of his White male followers, along with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/donald-trump-s-economic-policies-are-geared-toward-enriching-white/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“individualizing White negativity and generalizing Black negativity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/individualizing-white-negativity-and-generalizing-black-negativity/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“Racially discriminatory policies have usually sprung from economic, political, and cultural self-interests, self-interests that are constantly changing. Politicians seeking higher office have primarily created…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/racially-discriminatory-policies-have-usually-sprung-from-economic/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“The vicious housing cycle had already begun. Racist policies harmed Black neighborhoods, generating racist ideas that caused people not to want to live next…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/the-vicious-housing-cycle-had-already-begun-racist-policies-harmed/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“For Jefferson, power came before freedom. Indeed, power creates freedom, not the other way around—as the powerless are taught.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/for-jefferson-power-came-before-freedom-indeed-power-creates-freedom/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“To justify Black enslavement, Barbados planters actually “preferred” the polygenesis theory over the curse theory of Ham,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/to-justify-black-enslavement-barbados-planters-actually-preferred-the/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“With this law in place, White enslavers could now reap financial reward from relations “upon a negro woman.” But they wanted to prevent the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/with-this-law-in-place-white-enslavers-could-now-reap-financial/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“Our education has filled us with strong prejudices against them,” Hopkins professed, “and led us to consider them, not as our brethren, or in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/our-education-has-filled-us-with-strong-prejudices-against-them/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) [Explore all 140 Ibram X. Kendi quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) ## More First place quotes > [“But the process should not be confused with science. When tests are used as selections devices, they're not a neutral tool; they become a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-whyte/but-the-process-should-not-be-confused-with-science-when-tests-are/) [William H. Whyte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-whyte/) > [The whole concept of stage fright is fascinating. Actors get stage fright, but they wouldn't be on the stage in the first place if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-greene/the-whole-concept-of-stage-fright-is-fascinating-actors-get-stage/) [Robert Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-greene/) > [“I felt like praying or something, when I was in bed, but I couldn't do it. I can't always pray when I feel like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-d-salinger/i-felt-like-praying-or-something-when-i-was-in-bed-but-i-couldn-t-do/) [J.D. Salinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-d-salinger/) > [The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/the-politician-attempts-to-remedy-the-evil-by-increasing-the-very/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [At times you are going to miss people. When that happens, others have to come to the front and show the calibre that brought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-phelan/at-times-you-are-going-to-miss-people-when-that-happens-others-have/) [Mike Phelan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-phelan/) > [Im never shocked when people let me down nowadays. I just hate the fact that I put myself in a position to be let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-never-shocked-when-people-let-me-down-nowadays-i-just-hate-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Had a 90's music party with my Glee family tonight. Helped remind me why I got into music in the first place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-salling/had-a-90-s-music-party-with-my-glee-family-tonight-helped-remind-me/) [Mark Salling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-salling/) > [“We heard about people who go back to their roots. That is good, but don't get stuck in the root. There is the branch,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-goldberg/we-heard-about-people-who-go-back-to-their-roots-that-is-good-but-don/) [Natalie Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-goldberg/) > [Don't be afraid of failure, be afraid of not trying in the first place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-forleo/don-t-be-afraid-of-failure-be-afraid-of-not-trying-in-the-first-place/) [Marie Forleo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-forleo/) > [“If you have the ability and the opportunity to help someone, but you don't do anything just because you're scared or it's inconvenient or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bree-despain/if-you-have-the-ability-and-the-opportunity-to-help-someone-but-you/) [Bree Despain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bree-despain/) > [Every penny we spend comes from the taxpayer. We thus owe it to the taxpayer to work as hard managing that money wisely as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-mulvaney/every-penny-we-spend-comes-from-the-taxpayer-we-thus-owe-it-to-the/) [Mick Mulvaney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-mulvaney/) > [“The traumatized soul finds no rest in conditions of peace. It’s forever questing for violence, for action, for the same combination of factors which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-s-williams/the-traumatized-soul-finds-no-rest-in-conditions-of-peace-it-s/) [Matthew S. Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-s-williams/) > [When you're 20 you care what everyone thinks, when you're 40 you stop caring what everyone thinks, when you're 60 you realize no one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/when-you-re-20-you-care-what-everyone-thinks-when-you-re-40-you-stop/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [Because I'm not, in fact, depressed, Prozac makes me manic and numb - one of the reasons I slice my arm in the first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-hornbacher/because-i-m-not-in-fact-depressed-prozac-makes-me-manic-and-numb-one/) [Marya Hornbacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-hornbacher/) > [“The greatest faith is the willingness to ask in the first place, all evidence to the contrary. Faith not just in God, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-cronin/the-greatest-faith-is-the-willingness-to-ask-in-the-first-place-all/) [Justin Cronin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-cronin/) [Browse all 2,907 First place quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-place/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“if there is anything I have learned during my research, it’s that the principal producers and defenders of racist ideas will not join us. And no logic or fact or history book can change them, because logic and facts and scholarship have little to do with why they are expressing racist ideas in the first place.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ibram X. Kendi" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/if-there-is-anything-i-have-learned-during-my-research-it-s-that-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "First place" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/if-there-is-anything-i-have-learned-during-my-research-it-s-that-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92d/ibram-x-kendi-3080_first-place_if-there-is-anything-i-have-learned-duri_759536.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92d/ibram-x-kendi-3080_first-place_if-there-is-anything-i-have-learned-duri_759536.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/92d/ibram-x-kendi-3080_first-place_if-there-is-anything-i-have-learned-duri_759536.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“if there is anything I have learned during my research, it’s that the principal producers and defenders of…” — Ibram X. Kendi", "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": "Ibram X. Kendi", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“if there is anything I have...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/if-there-is-anything-i-have-learned-during-my-research-it-s-that-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/if-there-is-anything-i-have-learned-during-my-research-it-s-that-the/#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 } } ] } ```