--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Our Negro problem, therefore, is not of…" description: "\"“Our Negro problem, therefore, is not of the Negro's making. No group in our population is less responsible for its existence. But every group is respo..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2b/isabel-wilkerson-10765_common-good_our-negro-problem-therefore-is-not-of-th_2599769.jpg" --- # Our Negro problem, therefore, is not of the Negro's… ![“Our Negro problem, therefore, is not of the Negro's making. No group in our population is less responsible for its existence. But every group is responsible for its continuance… Both races need to understand that their rights and duties are mutual and equal and their interests in the common good…” quote by Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2b/isabel-wilkerson-10765_common-good_our-negro-problem-therefore-is-not-of-th_2599769.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2b/isabel-wilkerson-10765_common-good_our-negro-problem-therefore-is-not-of-th_2599769.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a2b/isabel-wilkerson-10765_common-good_our-negro-problem-therefore-is-not-of-th_2599769.jpg) > ““Our Negro problem, therefore, is not of the Negro's making. No group in our population is less responsible for its existence. But every group is responsible for its continuance… Both races need to understand that their rights and duties are mutual and equal and their interests in the common good are idential… There is no help or healing in apparaising past responsibilities or in present apportioning of praise or blame. The past is of value only as it aids in understanding the present; and an understanding of the facts of the problem--a magnanimous understanding by both races--is the first step toward its solution.”” [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote stresses that racial issues are a collective responsibility, not caused by any single group, and that mutual understanding is essential for progress. **In simple terms:** Racial problems are shared; mutual understanding helps solve them. Key Takeaway Promote shared responsibility and dialogue. Themes race relations shared responsibility mutual understanding social justice reconciliation Mood reflective hopeful serious Type analytical inspirational When to use this quote - community meetings - policy making - education reforms - interracial dialogues - media coverage Key Concepts collective accountability historical context systemic inequality Questions to Reflect On - How can we ensure all voices are heard in the dialogue? - What concrete steps can each group take to foster mutual understanding? A Different Perspective It may overlook power imbalances that affect how responsibilities are shared. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Common good](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-good/) [First step](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/first-step/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Race relations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race-relations/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) [Rights and duties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rights-and-duties/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“The past is of value only as it aids in understanding the present; and an understanding of the facts of the problem -- a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chicago-commission-on-race-relations/the-past-is-of-value-only-as-it-aids-in-understanding-the-present-and/) Chicago Commission on Race Relations > [“...they speak like melted butter and their children speak like footsteps on pavement...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/they-speak-like-melted-butter-and-their-children-speak-like-footsteps/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“I have often pointed out to students that the Jim Crow order had a specific and relatively brief life span. It was not completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolph-l-reed-jr/i-have-often-pointed-out-to-students-that-the-jim-crow-order-had-a/) Adolph L. Reed Jr > [The longer I live and the more I study the question, the more I am convinced that it is not so much the problem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/booker-t-washington/the-longer-i-live-and-the-more-i-study-the-question-the-more-i-am/) [Booker T. Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/booker-t-washington/) > [You can't talk about solving the economic problem of the Negro without talking about billions of dollars. You can't talk about ending the slums…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/you-can-t-talk-about-solving-the-economic-problem-of-the-negro/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The problem of the negro is so criminal that many individuals and organizations are going to have to sacrifice what they call their organizational…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/the-problem-of-the-negro-is-so-criminal-that-many-individuals-and/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [“Oh, how many mysteries there are around us! How wonderful, how absorbingly interesting it will be, when the time comes, to hear the explanation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mrs-george-de-horne-vaizey/oh-how-many-mysteries-there-are-around-us-how-wonderful-how/) Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey > [“But we do not reach truth unless we allow ourselves to be exposed to and drawn by a truth which is beyond our present…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lesslie-newbigin/but-we-do-not-reach-truth-unless-we-allow-ourselves-to-be-exposed-to/) [Lesslie Newbigin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lesslie-newbigin/) > [We all come from someplace. We didn't just get here by accident. Where we come from has got to be known, if you want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-james-olmos/we-all-come-from-someplace-we-didn-t-just-get-here-by-accident-where/) [Edward James Olmos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-james-olmos/) > [The limit of your present understanding is not the limit of your possibilities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-finley/the-limit-of-your-present-understanding-is-not-the-limit-of-your/) [Guy Finley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-finley/) > [“There is truth and knowledge beyond present understanding.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryant-mcgill/there-is-truth-and-knowledge-beyond-present-understanding/) [Bryant McGill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryant-mcgill/) > [I believe that nothing is more important to our ability to effectively address our present than understanding the lessons learned from those who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-gonzalez/i-believe-that-nothing-is-more-important-to-our-ability-to/) [Charlie Gonzalez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-gonzalez/) > [The Negro's problem will not be solved by running away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-negro-s-problem-will-not-be-solved-by-running-away/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [“In America the magazines in which one can frequently publish stories or poems about Negroes are very few, and most of these do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/langston-hughes/in-america-the-magazines-in-which-one-can-frequently-publish-stories/) [Langston Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/langston-hughes/) > [“In the context of the Negro problem neither whites nor blacks, for excellent reasons of their own, have the faintest desire to look back;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/in-the-context-of-the-negro-problem-neither-whites-nor-blacks-for/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) ## More by Isabel Wilkerson > [“That one over this is the one for the use of the white people,” Judge Amistead Jones said. “Not that I am a stickler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/that-one-over-this-is-the-one-for-the-use-of-the-white-people-judge/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“...they speak like melted butter and their children speak like footsteps on pavement...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/they-speak-like-melted-butter-and-their-children-speak-like-footsteps/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [Many immigrants do not talk about what they endured back home. They were fleeing that world, and when they left they didn't want to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/many-immigrants-do-not-talk-about-what-they-endured-back-home-they/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“Many of the people who left the South never exactly sat their children down to tell them these things, tell them what happened and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/many-of-the-people-who-left-the-south-never-exactly-sat-their/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“Fifteen thousand men, women, and children gathered to watch eighteen-year-old Jesse Washington as he was burned alive in Waco, Texas, in May 1916. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/fifteen-thousand-men-women-and-children-gathered-to-watch-eighteen/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [It occurred to me that no matter where I lived, geography could not save me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/it-occurred-to-me-that-no-matter-where-i-lived-geography-could-not/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [Well, I'm a daughter of the great migration as, really, the majority of African Americans that you meet in the north and west are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/well-i-m-a-daughter-of-the-great-migration-as-really-the-majority-of/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [There were colored and white waiting rooms everywhere, from doctor's offices to the bus stations, as people may already know. But there were actually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/there-were-colored-and-white-waiting-rooms-everywhere-from-doctor-s/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“I don’t see one white person in this block selling drugs. They got the nerve to be mad at the blue-eyed devil. You don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/i-don-t-see-one-white-person-in-this-block-selling-drugs-they-got-the/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“That the Negro American has survived at all is extraordinary —a lesser people might simply have died out, as indeed others have. — DANIEL…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/that-the-negro-american-has-survived-at-all-is-extraordinary-a-lesser/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“The reality was that Jim Crow filtered through the economy, north and south, and pressed down on poor and working-class people of all races.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/the-reality-was-that-jim-crow-filtered-through-the-economy-north-and/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [I mean my mother migrated from Georgia -Rome, Georgia, to Washington, D.C., where she then met my father, who was a Tuskegee Airman who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/i-mean-my-mother-migrated-from-georgia-rome-georgia-to-washington-d-c/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [You must leave this world a better place than it would have been if you had not existed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/you-must-leave-this-world-a-better-place-than-it-would-have-been-if/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [“County supervisors relented only after losing their case in the U.S. Supreme Court, choosing finally to reopen the schools rather than face imprisonment.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/county-supervisors-relented-only-after-losing-their-case-in-the-u-s/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) > [My parents sent me to a school across town, an integrated school, where I had the chance to meet and grow up with people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-wilkerson/my-parents-sent-me-to-a-school-across-town-an-integrated-school-where/) [Isabel Wilkerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) [Explore all 63 Isabel Wilkerson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-wilkerson/) ## More Common good quotes > [A flourishing, morally credible media is a vital component in the maintenance of genuinely public talk, argument about common good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/a-flourishing-morally-credible-media-is-a-vital-component-in-the/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [Advocacy groups, politicians, and bureaucrats use the government to advance their private good instead of the common good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-miller/advocacy-groups-politicians-and-bureaucrats-use-the-government-to/) [Joel Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-miller/) > [With a full century of contrary proof in our possession and despite our demonstrated capacity for cooperative teamwork, some among us seem to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/with-a-full-century-of-contrary-proof-in-our-possession-and-despite/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [“Markets do not automatically generate trust, cooperation or collective action for the common good. Quite the contrary: it is in the nature of economic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-judt/markets-do-not-automatically-generate-trust-cooperation-or-collective/) [Tony Judt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-judt/) > [Set goals - high goals for you and your organization. When your organization has a goal to shoot for, you create teamwork, people working…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bear-bryant/set-goals-high-goals-for-you-and-your-organization-when-your/) [Bear Bryant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bear-bryant/) > [“The coming of the messianic King occurs in two stages. At his first coming, he saved us from the penalty of sin and gave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/the-coming-of-the-messianic-king-occurs-in-two-stages-at-his-first/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [Once we are bound together to our brothers by a common good that is outside us, then we can breathe. Experience teaches us that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/once-we-are-bound-together-to-our-brothers-by-a-common-good-that-is/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [The original Greek word "idiotes" referred to people who might have had a high IQ, but were so self-involved that they focused exclusively on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-hightower/the-original-greek-word-idiotes-referred-to-people-who-might-have-had/) [Jim Hightower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-hightower/) > [People who reject transcendent authority can no longer persuade one another through rational arguments; everything is reduced to personal opinion. Debates about ideas thus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-colson/people-who-reject-transcendent-authority-can-no-longer-persuade-one/) [Charles Colson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-colson/) > [I am a strong believer in the free market. I am a strong believer in capitalism. But, I am also a strong believer that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-am-a-strong-believer-in-the-free-market-i-am-a-strong-believer-in/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Leadership: The skill of influencing people to work enthusiastically toward goals identified as being for the common good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hunter/leadership-the-skill-of-influencing-people-to-work-enthusiastically/) [James Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hunter/) > [“Government is instituted for the common good; for the protection, safety, prosperity and happiness of the people; and not for the profit, honor, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-adams/government-is-instituted-for-the-common-good-for-the-protection/) [John Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-adams/) > [When it all boils down, its about embracing each others stories and maybe even finding that synergy to collaborate for the common good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dhani-jones/when-it-all-boils-down-its-about-embracing-each-others-stories-and/) [Dhani Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dhani-jones/) > [Even the best weapon is an unhappy tool, hateful to living things. So the follower of the Way stays away from it. Weapons are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/even-the-best-weapon-is-an-unhappy-tool-hateful-to-living-things-so/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [“Throughout the 1980's, we did hear too much about individual gain and the ethos of selfishness and greed. We did not hear enough a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/throughout-the-1980-s-we-did-hear-too-much-about-individual-gain-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 375 Common good quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/common-good/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Our Negro problem, therefore, is not of the Negro's making. No group in our population is less responsible for its existence. 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