--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are still horrible things that go…" description: "\"There are still horrible things that go on because of the myth of race, but we don't have to succumb totally.\" — John Edgar Wideman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/621/john-edgar-wideman-7347_goes-on_there-are-still-horrible-things-that-go_2125200.jpg" --- # There are still horrible things that go on because of the… ![“There are still horrible things that go on because of the myth of race, but we don't have to succumb totally.” quote by John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/621/john-edgar-wideman-7347_goes-on_there-are-still-horrible-things-that-go_2125200.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/621/john-edgar-wideman-7347_goes-on_there-are-still-horrible-things-that-go_2125200.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/621/john-edgar-wideman-7347_goes-on_there-are-still-horrible-things-that-go_2125200.jpg) > “There are still horrible things that go on because of the myth of race, but we don't have to succumb totally.” [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Racial myths cause ongoing harm, yet individuals can choose not to be fully consumed by them. **In simple terms:** Racial myths cause harm but we can resist. Key Takeaway Resist internalizing harmful narratives. Themes racism myth resilience Mood thoughtful determined Type social activist When to use this quote - Community activism - education - dialogue Key Concepts Social constructs personal agency Questions to Reflect On - What actions counteract racial myths? - How can you foster inclusive narratives? A Different Perspective Changing deep‑seated beliefs is a slow process. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Goes on](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goes-on/) [Horrible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horrible/) [Horrible things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horrible-things/) [Myth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myth/) [Myth Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/myth-race-4355492/) [Race](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/race/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) [Things Myth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-myth-3337442/) ## Related quotes > [“Getting over things is a myth. Time buries things, it doesn't erase them. They can always be dug up later.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-develin/getting-over-things-is-a-myth-time-buries-things-it-doesn-t-erase/) [Sean Develin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-develin/) > [Books are an attempt to control something that's uncontrollable. That's one of the beauties of African American life. There was this thing called slavery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/books-are-an-attempt-to-control-something-that-s-uncontrollable-that/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [Sin! Sin! Thou art a hateful and horrible thing, that abominable thing which God hates. And what wonder? Thou hast insulted His holy majesty;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-guthrie/sin-sin-thou-art-a-hateful-and-horrible-thing-that-abominable-thing/) [Thomas Guthrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-guthrie/) > [Licensing can be great. You get money for work that's already done. It's not a horrible thing to me, there's just some things I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hutch-harris/licensing-can-be-great-you-get-money-for-work-that-s-already-done-it/) [Hutch Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hutch-harris/) > [I generally don't like living in a world where being what a man is, is a horrible thing; and no matter what a woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrice-o-neal/i-generally-don-t-like-living-in-a-world-where-being-what-a-man-is-is/) [Patrice O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrice-o-neal/) > [maggie and milly and molly and may went down to the beach (to play one day) and maggie discovered a shell that sang so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/maggie-and-milly-and-molly-and-may-went-down-to-the-beach-to-play-one/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [There were no horror movies or horror books to speak of in the '40s. I picked the '50s because that pretty well spans my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/there-were-no-horror-movies-or-horror-books-to-speak-of-in-the-40s-i/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [What horrible things would you have to do in your life to get woven into Hades's underwear?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/what-horrible-things-would-you-have-to-do-in-your-life-to-get-woven/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [I'm fearless, I don't complain. Even when horrible things happen to me, I go on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sofia-vergara/i-m-fearless-i-don-t-complain-even-when-horrible-things-happen-to-me/) [Sofia Vergara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sofia-vergara/) > [People do horrible things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-paul/people-do-horrible-things/) [Logan Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-paul/) > [The worst of pushing horrible things down into one's subconscious is that when they pop up again they are as fresh as if they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/josephine-tey/the-worst-of-pushing-horrible-things-down-into-one-s-subconscious-is/) [Josephine Tey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/josephine-tey/) > [I think portraying human beings trying to hold on to their humanity against pretty much certain odds that they'll die horribly in some way…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-m-gimple/i-think-portraying-human-beings-trying-to-hold-on-to-their-humanity/) [Scott M. Gimple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-m-gimple/) > [War is horrible no matter what. There's going to be atrocities, there's going to be horrible things that happen in war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-hoffman/war-is-horrible-no-matter-what-there-s-going-to-be-atrocities-there-s/) [Mike Hoffman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-hoffman/) > [But, outside of being a sweet little girl, she was awfully dumb and capable of doing horrible things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/but-outside-of-being-a-sweet-little-girl-she-was-awfully-dumb-and/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Everyone will admire you when you do well. What a horrible thing to do to someone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/everyone-will-admire-you-when-you-do-well-what-a-horrible-thing-to-do/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) ## More by John Edgar Wideman > [My mother loved my father. From my view, she let him get away with too much. It broke my heart to see him in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/my-mother-loved-my-father-from-my-view-she-let-him-get-away-with-too/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [Too much is made for us; too much is given to us - even those of us who are underprivileged. The poverty is given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/too-much-is-made-for-us-too-much-is-given-to-us-even-those-of-us-who/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [A great artist transforms our world, removes scales from our eyes, plugs from our ears, gloves from our fingertips, teaches us to perceive reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/a-great-artist-transforms-our-world-removes-scales-from-our-eyes/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [That's what writing is: it's imagining that you can make a world. That's what basketball is, too: it's imagining the game as a world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/that-s-what-writing-is-it-s-imagining-that-you-can-make-a-world-that/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [I'm very hard-nosed and cold-blooded and I can walk past a drowning man. If I have someplace else to go, well, tough s\*\*t. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/i-m-very-hard-nosed-and-cold-blooded-and-i-can-walk-past-a-drowning/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [I get off on anticipating and waiting much more than I get off on the actual event.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/i-get-off-on-anticipating-and-waiting-much-more-than-i-get-off-on-the/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [You have to be a minor superhero just to get to be a dignified man, and that's kind of exacerbated for men of color.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/you-have-to-be-a-minor-superhero-just-to-get-to-be-a-dignified-man/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [Stories are told over time, and so they naturally accrue meanings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/stories-are-told-over-time-and-so-they-naturally-accrue-meanings/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [That's been my routine for years and years... Up early before everybody else, before I get connected, before I get bugged, before I have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/that-s-been-my-routine-for-years-and-years-up-early-before-everybody/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [My father was intelligent and closed-mouthed. He knew a lot more than what he was ever going to tell you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/my-father-was-intelligent-and-closed-mouthed-he-knew-a-lot-more-than/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [What I wanted to do in talking about basketball in 'Hoop Roots' was retrieve the game as something to participate in, not to watch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/what-i-wanted-to-do-in-talking-about-basketball-in-hoop-roots-was/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [Books are an attempt to control something that's uncontrollable. That's one of the beauties of African American life. There was this thing called slavery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/books-are-an-attempt-to-control-something-that-s-uncontrollable-that/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [That's one of the beauties, I think, of African American life. There was this thing called slavery and adjustments were made. It literally destroyed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/that-s-one-of-the-beauties-i-think-of-african-american-life-there-was/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [Things seem to fall apart inevitably.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edgar-wideman/things-seem-to-fall-apart-inevitably/) [John Edgar Wideman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edgar-wideman/) > [My aunt Geraldine was the unofficial historian and storyteller. 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"And I plan to go on fighting. To the end." Love is a battle?" said Franz.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/love-is-a-battle-said-marie-claude-still-smiling-and-i-plan-to-go-on/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [For a young man to start his career with a love affair with an older woman was quite de rigueur ... Of course, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vita-sackville-west/for-a-young-man-to-start-his-career-with-a-love-affair-with-an-older/) [Vita Sackville-West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vita-sackville-west/) > [...the Government must not think that they can stop this agitation. It will go on...We are here not because we are law-breakers; we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emmeline-pankhurst/the-government-must-not-think-that-they-can-stop-this-agitation-it/) [Emmeline Pankhurst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emmeline-pankhurst/) > [I think the biggest problem working with me would be that I'm an only child, and so I have an internal dialogue that goes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maynard-james-keenan/i-think-the-biggest-problem-working-with-me-would-be-that-i-m-an-only/) [Maynard James Keenan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maynard-james-keenan/) > [When I hear that I realize how quickly time passes and how everybody goes on their journeys and they're always unbelievable and they never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-lowe/when-i-hear-that-i-realize-how-quickly-time-passes-and-how-everybody/) [Rob Lowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-lowe/) > [ Beneath everything else, North and West, there ran a profound, unvoiced, almost subconscious conviction that the \[American\] nation was going to go on growing-in… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/beneath-everything-else-north-and-west-there-ran-a-profound-unvoiced/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [Sure, I’m dramatic and sloppily semi-cynical and semi-sentimental. 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