--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: That is what it truly means to think as…" description: "\"“That is what it truly means to think as an antiracist: to think there is nothing wrong with Black people, to think that racial groups are equal. There..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01a/ibram-x-kendi-3080_black-people_that-is-what-it-truly-means-to-think-as_2169857.jpg" --- # That is what it truly means to think as an antiracist: to… ![“That is what it truly means to think as an antiracist: to think there is nothing wrong with Black people, to think that racial groups are equal. There are lazy and unwise and harmful individuals of African ancestry. There are lazy and unwise and harmful individuals of European ancestry. There are…” quote by Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01a/ibram-x-kendi-3080_black-people_that-is-what-it-truly-means-to-think-as_2169857.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01a/ibram-x-kendi-3080_black-people_that-is-what-it-truly-means-to-think-as_2169857.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/01a/ibram-x-kendi-3080_black-people_that-is-what-it-truly-means-to-think-as_2169857.jpg) > ““That is what it truly means to think as an antiracist: to think there is nothing wrong with Black people, to think that racial groups are equal. There are lazy and unwise and harmful individuals of African ancestry. There are lazy and unwise and harmful individuals of European ancestry. There are industrious and wise and harmless individuals of European ancestry. There are industrious and wise and harmless individuals of African ancestry. But no racial group has ever had a monopoly on any type of human trait or gene—not now, not ever.”” [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. True antiracism means rejecting the idea that any race is inherently superior or inferior, recognizing individuals vary within groups. **In simple terms:** Antiracism rejects racial hierarchies and sees individuals as diverse. Key Takeaway Judge people by character, not race. Themes equality racism justice humanity individuality Mood thoughtful inspirational analytical Type social ethical philosophical When to use this quote - education - workplace hiring - policy making - community dialogue Key Concepts social psychology ethics identity politics Questions to Reflect On - How can we address both individual and systemic racism? - What policies promote true equality? A Different Perspective It may overlook structural advantages that affect outcomes. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Black people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-people/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) ## Related quotes > [I think racial justice - and addressing the sick and enduring legacy of structural racism - remains one of the greatest challenges of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-kohn/i-think-racial-justice-and-addressing-the-sick-and-enduring-legacy-of/) [Sally Kohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-kohn/) > [Only blacks can play the race card, apparently; only they think in racial terms, at least to hear white America tell it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/only-blacks-can-play-the-race-card-apparently-only-they-think-in/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [I think there's a racial outcome to a lot of what goes in America, but I don't think race is always the reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rand-paul/i-think-there-s-a-racial-outcome-to-a-lot-of-what-goes-in-america-but/) [Rand Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rand-paul/) > [Clearly, I think that there have been racial problems in America for a long time. I still think that, particularly during the second half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marty-walsh/clearly-i-think-that-there-have-been-racial-problems-in-america-for-a/) [Marty Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marty-walsh/) > [I think racial profiling is wrong. It cannot be defended. It's just flat wrong. And if a matter came before me, and it could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-think-racial-profiling-is-wrong-it-cannot-be-defended-it-s-just/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A lot of the things that we think of as being racial differences are really class differences in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-gross/a-lot-of-the-things-that-we-think-of-as-being-racial-differences-are/) [Terry Gross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-gross/) > [Of course, individuals vary greatly within each racial group and should be treated as such.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-philippe-rushton/of-course-individuals-vary-greatly-within-each-racial-group-and/) [J. Philippe Rushton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-philippe-rushton/) > [Jinnah is a constant source of inspiration for all those who are fighting against racial and group discrimination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/jinnah-is-a-constant-source-of-inspiration-for-all-those-who-are/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [The Constitution favors no racial group - no political or social group.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-douglas/the-constitution-favors-no-racial-group-no-political-or-social-group/) [William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-douglas/) > [By encouraging Americans to adopt a group mentality, the advocates of so called 'diversity' actually perpetuate racism. Their obsession with racial group identity is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/by-encouraging-americans-to-adopt-a-group-mentality-the-advocates-of/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [It is a bad sign when the people of a country stop identifying themselves with the country and start identifying with a group. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/it-is-a-bad-sign-when-the-people-of-a-country-stop-identifying/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [The more frequently officers encounter violent suspects from any given racial group, the greater the chance that members of that racial group will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heather-mac-donald/the-more-frequently-officers-encounter-violent-suspects-from-any/) [Heather Mac Donald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heather-mac-donald/) > [Very much like African-Americans, the history of America is taking away resources, whether it's labor or whether it's land from one racial group to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-williams-jr/very-much-like-african-americans-the-history-of-america-is-taking/) [Robert A. Williams, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-williams-jr/) > [Light came to me when I realized that I did not have to consider any racial group as a whole. God made them duck…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zora-neale-hurston/light-came-to-me-when-i-realized-that-i-did-not-have-to-consider-any/) [Zora Neale Hurston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zora-neale-hurston/) > [“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/) ## 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 Black people quotes > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [“In any case, white people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who profited by this theft every hour that they lived,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/in-any-case-white-people-who-had-robbed-black-people-of-their-liberty/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [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/) > [Hollywood is so fixated on keeping it that way because it's generating the buzz, but that representation isn't right. I definitely feel like it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boyega/hollywood-is-so-fixated-on-keeping-it-that-way-because-it-s/) [John Boyega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boyega/) > [Black Privilege is a concrete motive that black people benefit from, such as racism but racism on whites. Black people don't know it but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/black-privilege-is-a-concrete-motive-that-black-people-benefit-from/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Acknowledging that my skin was, in fact, Cocoa as it is, would have destroyed their narrative about who I really was. Therefore they had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitta-xinindlu/acknowledging-that-my-skin-was-in-fact-cocoa-as-it-is-would-have/) [Mitta Xinindlu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitta-xinindlu/) > [Well of course there's been a great deal of progress over the last 40 years. We don't have laws that segregate black people within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-davis/well-of-course-there-s-been-a-great-deal-of-progress-over-the-last-40/) [Angela Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-davis/) > [Adam Clayton Powell's entire political career has to be looked at in the entire context of the American history and the history of, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/adam-clayton-powell-s-entire-political-career-has-to-be-looked-at-in/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [What would America be like if we loved black people as much as we loved black culture?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amandla-stenberg/what-would-america-be-like-if-we-loved-black-people-as-much-as-we/) [Amandla Stenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amandla-stenberg/) > [“Any ministry to black people which is not designed to effect their empowerment is designed to perpetuate their enslavement.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/any-ministry-to-black-people-which-is-not-designed-to-effect-their/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All black people who are even minimally conscious, black people who have ever experienced Europe's technological power crusading in the vanguard of a civilizing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-nkosi/all-black-people-who-are-even-minimally-conscious-black-people-who/) [Lewis Nkosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-nkosi/) > [Even during my youth, I can recall very few black people living on any kind of public assistance. People were working, doing some kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-smith/even-during-my-youth-i-can-recall-very-few-black-people-living-on-any/) [Ed Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-smith/) > [There is no one American beauty or just one beautiful color in the pantheon, especially in regards to black people - there is no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/latanya-richardson/there-is-no-one-american-beauty-or-just-one-beautiful-color-in-the/) [LaTanya Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/latanya-richardson/) > [Saying women aren't funny is now like saying Asians can't drive or saying black people have bad credit. It's just really, like, so obsolete.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/whitney-cummings/saying-women-aren-t-funny-is-now-like-saying-asians-can-t-drive-or/) [Whitney Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/whitney-cummings/) > [It's so Canada. On some level, you laugh, but on another level, it's just depressing. We pride ourselves: We're not like the bad old…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/constance-backhouse/it-s-so-canada-on-some-level-you-laugh-but-on-another-level-it-s-just/) [Constance Backhouse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/constance-backhouse/) [Browse all 1,587 Black people quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-people/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“That is what it truly means to think as an antiracist: to think there is nothing wrong with Black people, to think that racial groups are equal. There are lazy and unwise and harmful individuals of African ancestry. There are lazy and unwise and harmful individuals of European ancestry. There are industrious and wise and harmless individuals of European ancestry. There are industrious and wise and harmless individuals of African ancestry. 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