--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Segregation, as even the segregationists…" description: "\"Segregation, as even the segregationists know in their hearts, is morally wrong and sinful. If it weren't, the white South would not be haunted as it i..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d01/martin-luther-king-jr-127_conscience_segregation-as-even-the-segregationists_2449018.jpg" --- # Segregation, as even the segregationists know in their… ![“Segregation, as even the segregationists know in their hearts, is morally wrong and sinful. If it weren't, the white South would not be haunted as it is by a deep sense of guilt for what it has done to the Negro - guilt for patronizing him, degrading him, brutalizing him, depersonalizing him…” quote by Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d01/martin-luther-king-jr-127_conscience_segregation-as-even-the-segregationists_2449018.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d01/martin-luther-king-jr-127_conscience_segregation-as-even-the-segregationists_2449018.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d01/martin-luther-king-jr-127_conscience_segregation-as-even-the-segregationists_2449018.jpg) > “Segregation, as even the segregationists know in their hearts, is morally wrong and sinful. If it weren't, the white South would not be haunted as it is by a deep sense of guilt for what it has done to the Negro - guilt for patronizing him, degrading him, brutalizing him, depersonalizing him, thingifying him; guilt for lying to itself. This is the source of the schizophrenia that the South will suffer until it goes through its crisis of conscience.” [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Segregation is fundamentally immoral, causing deep collective guilt and a fractured conscience in the South. **In simple terms:** Segregation is wrong and creates guilt. Key Takeaway Confront and and end segregation. Themes morality guilt social justice Mood reflective determined Type historical inspirational When to use this quote - civil rights activism - education reform - community dialogue - policy making Key Concepts racial inequality collective conscience historical trauma Questions to Reflect On - How can societies heal from historic injustice? - What actions dismantle segregation today? A Different Perspective Addressing guilt alone doesn't change systemic power structures. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conscience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) [Crisis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crisis/) [Degrading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degrading/) [Done](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/done/) [Guilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilt/) [Guilt Negro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guilt-negro-553614/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Knows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knows/) [Lying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lying/) [Negro Guilt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/negro-guilt-553611/) [Patronizing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patronizing/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Schizophrenia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/schizophrenia/) [Segregation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/segregation/) [Segregationists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/segregationists-553613/) [Segregationists Know](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/segregationists-know-553612/) [Source](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/source/) [South](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/south/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white/) ## Related quotes > [Prior to civil rights, the Democratic Party had been defined by an increasingly untenable alliance of ideological opposites - integrationist Northern liberals like Hubert…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-kornacki/prior-to-civil-rights-the-democratic-party-had-been-defined-by-an/) [Steve Kornacki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-kornacki/) > [“A group we can call segregationists has blamed Black people themselves for the racial disparities. A group we can call antiracists has pointed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/a-group-we-can-call-segregationists-has-blamed-black-people/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [Liberals say this over and over and over again to hide the actual history, which is why I go through the specifics on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-coulter/liberals-say-this-over-and-over-and-over-again-to-hide-the-actual/) [Ann Coulter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-coulter/) > [“States relied as well upon another mechanism of insidious discrimination to silence blacks and ensure that the rule of a few would shape the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anderson/states-relied-as-well-upon-another-mechanism-of-insidious/) [Carol Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anderson/) > [F.D.R. had to deal with Southern segregationists - and outright racists - who held power in Congress, so he had to yield to that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-greenfield/f-d-r-had-to-deal-with-southern-segregationists-and-outright-racists/) [Jeff Greenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-greenfield/) > [“Just like in the old days before Roosevelt, segregationists were given the power to locally administer and racially discriminate the relief coming from these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/just-like-in-the-old-days-before-roosevelt-segregationists-were-given/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [“wrapping their ideas in goodness, segregationists and assimilationists have rarely confessed to their racist public policies and ideas.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ibram-x-kendi/wrapping-their-ideas-in-goodness-segregationists-and-assimilationists/) [Ibram X. Kendi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ibram-x-kendi/) > [If segregationists had their way, I would not be a member of the United States Senate today, I would not be a top contender…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kamala-harris/if-segregationists-had-their-way-i-would-not-be-a-member-of-the/) [Kamala Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kamala-harris/) > [“Far too often, historians treat African Americans as if white segregationists had succeeded, as if blacks lived in their own separate world, physically and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shane-white/far-too-often-historians-treat-african-americans-as-if-white/) [Shane White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shane-white/) > [Well, my contention is that the political system of this country is so designed criminally to prevent this, that if the black man even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/well-my-contention-is-that-the-political-system-of-this-country-is-so/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [“A generation or so after slavery ended, segregationists enacted Jim Crow laws that made it impossible for most blacks to vote in the South.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-t-o-conner/a-generation-or-so-after-slavery-ended-segregationists-enacted-jim/) [Patricia T. O'Conner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-t-o-conner/) > [The countries the most famous and the most respected of antiquity are those which distinguished themselves by promoting and patronizing science, and on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/the-countries-the-most-famous-and-the-most-respected-of-antiquity-are/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [The salesman thanks the customer for patronizing his shop and asks him to come again. But the socialists say: Be grateful to Hitler, render…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/the-salesman-thanks-the-customer-for-patronizing-his-shop-and-asks/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Patronizing the Arts is a brilliantly nuanced assessment of why universities must become art patrons. Learning from the twentieth-century university's embrace of Big Science,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peggy-phelan/patronizing-the-arts-is-a-brilliantly-nuanced-assessment-of-why/) [Peggy Phelan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peggy-phelan/) > [I tend not to attempt to describe pain. I don't feel I can comprehend or re-create the personal suffering of others, so I simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-wein/i-tend-not-to-attempt-to-describe-pain-i-don-t-feel-i-can-comprehend/) [Elizabeth Wein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-wein/) ## More by Martin Luther King, Jr > [The strong man holds in a living blend strongly marked opposites.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-strong-man-holds-in-a-living-blend-strongly-marked-opposites/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. ... We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/our-nation-was-born-in-genocide-when-it-embraced-the-doctrine-that/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Every genuine expression of love grows out of a consistent and total surrender to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/every-genuine-expression-of-love-grows-out-of-a-consistent-and-total/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/we-must-remember-that-intelligence-is-not-enough-intelligence-plus/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [I’ve been to the Mountaintop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/i-ve-been-to-the-mountaintop/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The supreme task is to organize and unite people so that their anger becomes a transforming force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-supreme-task-is-to-organize-and-unite-people-so-that-their-anger/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The great issue of life is to harness the drum major instinct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-great-issue-of-life-is-to-harness-the-drum-major-instinct/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somebody-must-have-sense-enough-and-morality-enough-to-cut-off-the/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Darkness is only driven out with light, not more darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/darkness-is-only-driven-out-with-light-not-more-darkness/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [What seems so necessary today may not even be desirable tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/what-seems-so-necessary-today-may-not-even-be-desirable-tomorrow/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The Negro cannot win the respect of his oppressor by acquiescing; he merely increases the oppressor's arrogance and contempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-negro-cannot-win-the-respect-of-his-oppressor-by-acquiescing-he/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The majority of the Negroes who took part in the year-long boycott of Montgomery's buses were poor and untutored; but they understood the essence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-majority-of-the-negroes-who-took-part-in-the-year-long-boycott-of/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity and it has worth,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/whenever-you-are-engaged-in-work-that-serves-humanity-and-is-for-the/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/i-have-a-dream-that-one-day-even-the-state-of-mississippi-a-desert/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) [Explore all 1,210 Martin Luther King, Jr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) ## More Conscience quotes > [Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/self-respect-and-a-clear-conscience-are-powerful-components-of/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) > [“Knowledge without conscience is but the ruin of the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabelaise/knowledge-without-conscience-is-but-the-ruin-of-the-soul/) [Rabelaise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabelaise/) > [Writing adds up to the conscience of our times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-firrell/writing-adds-up-to-the-conscience-of-our-times/) [Martin Firrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-firrell/) > [My conscience is really active. So I feel bad about spending excess amount of money on things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syd/my-conscience-is-really-active-so-i-feel-bad-about-spending-excess/) [Syd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syd/) > [Let us be thankful for health and competence, and, above all, for a quiet conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/izaak-walton/let-us-be-thankful-for-health-and-competence-and-above-all-for-a/) [Izaak Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/izaak-walton/) > [Making money doesn't oblige people to forfeit their honor or their conscience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-de-rothschild/making-money-doesn-t-oblige-people-to-forfeit-their-honor-or-their/) [Guy de Rothschild](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-de-rothschild/) > [“If we cannot be happy and powerful and prey on others, we invent conscience and prey on ourselves.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/if-we-cannot-be-happy-and-powerful-and-prey-on-others-we-invent/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [The God in whose hands are all our days and ways, did cast into my hand one day a book of Martin Luthers; it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/the-god-in-whose-hands-are-all-our-days-and-ways-did-cast-into-my/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [My morals are important to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hunter-parrish/my-morals-are-important-to-me/) [Hunter Parrish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hunter-parrish/) > [Being tolerant does not mean that I share another ones belief. But it does mean that I acknowledge another ones right to believe, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-frankl/being-tolerant-does-not-mean-that-i-share-another-ones-belief-but-it/) [Viktor Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-frankl/) > [Never can true courage dwell with them, Who, playing tricks with conscience, dare not look At their own vices.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-taylor-coleridge/never-can-true-courage-dwell-with-them-who-playing-tricks-with/) [Samuel Taylor Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-taylor-coleridge/) > [In presenting a mathematical argument the great thing is to give the educated reader the chance to catch on at once to the momentary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-edensor-littlewood/in-presenting-a-mathematical-argument-the-great-thing-is-to-give-the/) [John Edensor Littlewood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-edensor-littlewood/) > [I've worked with people who are much further to the left than I am and much further to the right than I am. At…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hanks/i-ve-worked-with-people-who-are-much-further-to-the-left-than-i-am/) [Tom Hanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hanks/) > [If all the world hated you and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved of you and absolved you from guilt, you would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/if-all-the-world-hated-you-and-believed-you-wicked-while-your-own/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [ \[D\]on't grow old. With age comes caution, which is another name for cowardice… Whatever else you do in life, don't cultivate a conscience. Without… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hesketh-pearson/d-on-t-grow-old-with-age-comes-caution-which-is-another-name-for/) [Hesketh Pearson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hesketh-pearson/) [Browse all 3,490 Conscience quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conscience/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Segregation, as even the segregationists know in their hearts, is morally wrong and sinful. If it weren't, the white South would not be haunted as it is by a deep sense of guilt for what it has done to the Negro - guilt for patronizing him, degrading him, brutalizing him, depersonalizing him, thingifying him; guilt for lying to itself. This is the source of the schizophrenia that the South will suffer until it goes through its crisis of conscience.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Martin Luther King, Jr" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/segregation-as-even-the-segregationists-know-in-their-hearts-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Conscience" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/segregation-as-even-the-segregationists-know-in-their-hearts-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d01/martin-luther-king-jr-127_conscience_segregation-as-even-the-segregationists_2449018.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d01/martin-luther-king-jr-127_conscience_segregation-as-even-the-segregationists_2449018.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d01/martin-luther-king-jr-127_conscience_segregation-as-even-the-segregationists_2449018.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Segregation, as even the segregationists know in their hearts, is morally wrong and sinful. If it weren't…” — Martin Luther King, Jr", "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": "Martin Luther King, Jr", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Segregation, as even the segregationists know...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/segregation-as-even-the-segregationists-know-in-their-hearts-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/segregation-as-even-the-segregationists-know-in-their-hearts-is/#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 } } ] } ```