--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I grew up on what everybody called a…" description: "\"I grew up on what everybody called a plantation - but believe me, it wasn't a plantation. It was just an old farm. I grew up with a lot of black people..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e34/sam-phillips-40162_believe_i-grew-up-on-what-everybody-called-a-pla_2391526.jpg" --- # I grew up on what everybody called a plantation - but… ![“I grew up on what everybody called a plantation - but believe me, it wasn't a plantation. It was just an old farm. I grew up with a lot of black people working in the fields, and it was during the Depression between 1930 and the war, so we were all poor - black and white.” quote by Sam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e34/sam-phillips-40162_believe_i-grew-up-on-what-everybody-called-a-pla_2391526.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e34/sam-phillips-40162_believe_i-grew-up-on-what-everybody-called-a-pla_2391526.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e34/sam-phillips-40162_believe_i-grew-up-on-what-everybody-called-a-pla_2391526.jpg) > “I grew up on what everybody called a plantation - but believe me, it wasn't a plantation. It was just an old farm. I grew up with a lot of black people working in the fields, and it was during the Depression between 1930 and the war, so we were all poor - black and white.” [Sam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-phillips/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker describes a childhood in a racially mixed, impoverished farming community during the Depression, challenging the notion of a traditional plantation. **In simple terms:** He grew up on a farm with both black and white workers during hard times. Key Takeaway Acknowledge shared hardships across races in history. Themes history race poverty community memory Mood reflective nostalgic Type historical personal When to use this quote - education curricula - community storytelling - heritage preservation - social justice work Key Concepts social class racial dynamics economic hardship Questions to Reflect On - How did racial relations evolve in such communities? - What lessons can modern society learn from this shared struggle? A Different Perspective The account may oversimplify complex racial histories. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) [Between](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/between/) [Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black/) [Black and white](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-and-white/) [Black people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-people/) [Called Plantation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/called-plantation-5958647/) [Depression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depression/) [Everybody](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/everybody/) [Farm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/farm/) [Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fields/) [Grew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grew/) [Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/just/) [Lot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lot/) [Me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/me/) [Old](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Plantation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plantation/) [Plantation Believe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plantation-believe-5958648/) [Plantation Just](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plantation-just-5958649/) [Poor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poor/) [Up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/up/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) [Wasn Plantation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wasn-plantation-1104197/) [Were](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/were/) [White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/white/) [Working](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working/) ## Related quotes > [I was raised in the suburbs. I wasn't on a plantation or anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-ervin-beam/i-was-raised-in-the-suburbs-i-wasn-t-on-a-plantation-or-anything/) [Samuel Ervin Beam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-ervin-beam/) > [When I was 12 years old, I went to Natchitoches, La.; it was summer vacation with my family. We visited a plantation, Melrose. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-wilson/when-i-was-12-years-old-i-went-to-natchitoches-la-it-was-summer/) [Robert Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-wilson/) > [Brother and mi father afi chop sugar cane. Pon the plantation under stress and shame.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/capleton/brother-and-mi-father-afi-chop-sugar-cane-pon-the-plantation-under/) [Capleton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/capleton/) > [If Mr. Ware does not want republican laborers on his plantation, let him pay them in full for the time contracted for, and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-e-merrill/if-mr-ware-does-not-want-republican-laborers-on-his-plantation-let/) [Charles E. Merrill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-e-merrill/) > [“And, you see, the little boy’s father was working hard to make the Negroes sweat on the peanut plantation, and he thought that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mich-le-audin/and-you-see-the-little-boy-s-father-was-working-hard-to-make-the/) [Michèle Audin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mich-le-audin/) > [“Negro slavery, thus, had nothing to do with climate. Its origin can be expressed in three words: in the Caribbean, Sugar; on the mainland,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-williams/negro-slavery-thus-had-nothing-to-do-with-climate-its-origin-can-be/) [Eric Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-williams/) > [Plantation gospel music was the stuff I fell in love with when I was a kid - these beautiful melodies and these hard, hard…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-womack/plantation-gospel-music-was-the-stuff-i-fell-in-love-with-when-i-was/) [Bobby Womack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-womack/) > [I was born on a plantation, and things weren't so good. We didn't have any money. I never thought of the word 'poor' 'til…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-b-king/i-was-born-on-a-plantation-and-things-weren-t-so-good-we-didn-t-have/) [B. B. King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-b-king/) > [I think if you say that art and politics, or religion and politics, mustn't mix, don't mix, that is itself a political statement. Even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohsin-hamid/i-think-if-you-say-that-art-and-politics-or-religion-and-politics/) [Mohsin Hamid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohsin-hamid/) > [There are times of great beauty on a coffee farm. When the plantation flowered in the beginning of the rains, it was a radiant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isak-dinesen/there-are-times-of-great-beauty-on-a-coffee-farm-when-the-plantation/) [Isak Dinesen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isak-dinesen/) > [We worked over at that place The Plantation Inn with The Del Rios. It was really wild over there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bell/we-worked-over-at-that-place-the-plantation-inn-with-the-del-rios-it/) [William Bell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bell/) > [“On the day of their arrival on Hazel Hill my family’s history and fortunes—and my own heritage—were first indissolubly linked with the enslavement of human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-himes/on-the-day-of-their-arrival-on-hazel-hill-my-family-s-history-and/) [Andrew Himes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-himes/) > [You have a plantation where you have 10 white people and you have about 50 or 60 black people. The automatic thought was, 'Why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldis-hodge/you-have-a-plantation-where-you-have-10-white-people-and-you-have/) [Aldis Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldis-hodge/) > [To me, entertainment is really the new plantation. It's the new sugar, the new cotton, that black people work for somebody else to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haile-gerima/to-me-entertainment-is-really-the-new-plantation-it-s-the-new-sugar/) [Haile Gerima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haile-gerima/) > [I grew up on a plantation in Alabama in a small town outside of Montgomery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-lee-peterson/i-grew-up-on-a-plantation-in-alabama-in-a-small-town-outside-of/) [Jesse Lee Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-lee-peterson/) ## More by Sam Phillips > [“Bring it home? All right, let's bring it home. If you was hit by a truck and you was lying out there in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-phillips/bring-it-home-all-right-let-s-bring-it-home-if-you-was-hit-by-a-truck/) [Sam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-phillips/) > [I was looking for what was coming from a man's soul and a man's conviction. I didn't care about his past. If it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-phillips/i-was-looking-for-what-was-coming-from-a-man-s-soul-and-a-man-s/) [Sam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-phillips/) > [There was a certain feeling I developed as a young person for black people. Somehow they were able to get pleasure out of things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-phillips/there-was-a-certain-feeling-i-developed-as-a-young-person-for-black/) [Sam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-phillips/) > [Feeling has as much to say as the words do. You can have the greatest words in the world and if they're not believable,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-phillips/feeling-has-as-much-to-say-as-the-words-do-you-can-have-the-greatest/) [Sam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-phillips/) > [If I could find a white man who had the Negro sound and the Negro feel, I could make a billion dollars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-phillips/if-i-could-find-a-white-man-who-had-the-negro-sound-and-the-negro/) [Sam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-phillips/) > [I was trying to establish an identity in music, and black and white had nothing to do with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-phillips/i-was-trying-to-establish-an-identity-in-music-and-black-and-white/) [Sam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-phillips/) > [I'll never retire. I'm just using up somebody else's oxygen if I retire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-phillips/i-ll-never-retire-i-m-just-using-up-somebody-else-s-oxygen-if-i-retire/) [Sam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-phillips/) > [Teenagers did not have, before rock 'n' roll and rhythm-and-blues - they did not have any type of music they could call their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-phillips/teenagers-did-not-have-before-rock-n-roll-and-rhythm-and-blues-they/) [Sam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-phillips/) > [If you're not doing something different, you're not doing anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-phillips/if-you-re-not-doing-something-different-you-re-not-doing-anything/) [Sam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-phillips/) > [I am a sound freak. I could play around with sound forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-phillips/i-am-a-sound-freak-i-could-play-around-with-sound-forever/) [Sam Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-phillips/) [Explore all 11 Sam Phillips quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-phillips/) ## More Believe quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julianne-moore/i-actually-think-acting-is-a-form-of-self-hypnosis-you-have-to-be/) [Julianne Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julianne-moore/) > [Some people still believe you should just fall in line with what's going on - and that's scary. It makes a mockery of freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-robison/some-people-still-believe-you-should-just-fall-in-line-with-what-s/) [Emily Robison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-robison/) > [The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-truth-seems-to-be-that-propaganda-on-its-own-cannot-force-its-way/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Resist discouragement by speaking His Word over your future. Keep standing. Keep hoping; keep believing because He is working behind the scenes. He's going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/resist-discouragement-by-speaking-his-word-over-your-future-keep/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [I can't believe that I'm sitting in meetings with Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, and Annette Bening. I want to take on that responsibility to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-ross-williams/i-can-t-believe-that-i-m-sitting-in-meetings-with-steven-spielberg/) [Roger Ross Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-ross-williams/) > [There is no such word as item girl in the dictionary. People have created this word and I don't believe that I am an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shefali-zariwala/there-is-no-such-word-as-item-girl-in-the-dictionary-people-have/) [Shefali Zariwala](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shefali-zariwala/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I don't really like too much credit. I know nobody's going to believe this, but I'd rather be able to score goals and nobody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bradley-wright-phillips/i-don-t-really-like-too-much-credit-i-know-nobody-s-going-to-believe/) [Bradley Wright-Phillips](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bradley-wright-phillips/) > [“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/what-i-have-a-problem-with-is-not-so-much-religion-or-god-but-faith/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [Bush reiterated his stand to conservatives opposing his decision on stem cell research. He said today he believes life begins at conception and ends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/bush-reiterated-his-stand-to-conservatives-opposing-his-decision-on/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [Never underestimate the power of the human mind to believe what it wants to believe, no matter the conflicting evidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-herbert/never-underestimate-the-power-of-the-human-mind-to-believe-what-it/) [Brian Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-herbert/) > [To believe in love, to be ready to give up anything for it, to be willing to risk your life for it, is the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/to-believe-in-love-to-be-ready-to-give-up-anything-for-it-to-be/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [That's why I don't generally talk about endorsements because I don't believe we have to tell people who to vote for.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-iii/that-s-why-i-don-t-generally-talk-about-endorsements-because-i-don-t/) [Martin Luther King III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-iii/) > [Mankind have been slow to believe that order reigns in the universe-that the world is a cosmos and a chaos.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/mankind-have-been-slow-to-believe-that-order-reigns-in-the-universe/) [James A. Garfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-garfield/) > [We instantly believe everything we think. Isn't that insane? It's good for us to explore the depravity of our minds, so we know we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/krishna-das/we-instantly-believe-everything-we-think-isn-t-that-insane-it-s-good/) [Krishna Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/krishna-das/) [Browse all 47,704 Believe quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/believe/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I grew up on what everybody called a plantation - but believe me, it wasn't a plantation. It was just an old farm. 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