--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Freedom in America was not always flat…" description: "\"Freedom in America was not always flat. Racism made it un-flat, so that some people had privileges over other people.\" — Shelby Steele" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b3/shelby-steele-3370_always_freedom-in-america-was-not-always-flat-r_2290990.png" --- # Freedom in America was not always flat. Racism made it… ![“Freedom in America was not always flat. Racism made it un-flat, so that some people had privileges over other people.” quote by Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b3/shelby-steele-3370_always_freedom-in-america-was-not-always-flat-r_2290990.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b3/shelby-steele-3370_always_freedom-in-america-was-not-always-flat-r_2290990.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b3/shelby-steele-3370_always_freedom-in-america-was-not-always-flat-r_2290990.png) > “Freedom in America was not always flat. Racism made it un-flat, so that some people had privileges over other people.” [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. America’s freedom is uneven; racism creates structural advantages for some, flattening opportunities for others. **In simple terms:** Racism skews equality, giving privileges to certain groups. Key Takeaway Recognize and address systemic bias. Themes inequality racism freedom justice Mood critical analytical Type essay political When to use this quote - education reform - employment practices - housing policy - political discourse Key Concepts social theory critical race theory policy analysis Questions to Reflect On - How does racism shape daily life? - What steps can reduce systemic privilege? A Different Perspective Addressing racism requires confronting entrenched interests. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Always](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always/) [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Flat Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flat-racism-5382851/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Freedom America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-america/) [Freedom In America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-in-america/) [Other](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/other/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Privileges People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/privileges-people-501320/) [Racism Flat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism-flat-5382852/) ## Related quotes > [What began as a bitter dispute over Union and States' Rights, ended as a struggle over the meaning of freedom in America. At Gettysburg…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-catton/what-began-as-a-bitter-dispute-over-union-and-states-rights-ended-as/) [Bruce Catton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-catton/) > [You have to make your own decisions. That's what the freedom in America is all about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-simmons/you-have-to-make-your-own-decisions-that-s-what-the-freedom-in/) [Richard Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-simmons/) > [“We have all this freedom in America—freedom people fought and died for—and we’re so afraid to exercise it. We’re afraid to talk about things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiffany-reisz/we-have-all-this-freedom-in-america-freedom-people-fought-and-died/) [Tiffany Reisz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiffany-reisz/) > [“But the bullet that killed Herbert Lee set off a string of firecrackers that clustered in a single summer, a season so radically different,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-watson/but-the-bullet-that-killed-herbert-lee-set-off-a-string-of/) [Bruce Watson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-watson/) > [The problem of freedom in America is that of maintaining a competition of ideas, and you do not achieve that by silencing one brand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-lerner/the-problem-of-freedom-in-america-is-that-of-maintaining-a/) [Max Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-lerner/) > [It makes me so angry when people say, "We never hear from people who are happy doing sex work." Well, that's because they're working.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-gira-grant/it-makes-me-so-angry-when-people-say-we-never-hear-from-people-who/) [Melissa Gira Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-gira-grant/) > [“The best thing that ever happened to you might be your new job, spouse, awards, etc, but I tell you that being granted to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/the-best-thing-that-ever-happened-to-you-might-be-your-new-job-spouse/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [As a young child, it became crystal clear to me that there were certain rights and privileges that other people had that my mother,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis/as-a-young-child-it-became-crystal-clear-to-me-that-there-were/) [John Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis/) > [I made a conscious decision to divide my time between Los Angeles, America and India. 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We're fighting for freedom in Iraq. We're going to fight for freedom in America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-dean/i-m-tired-of-the-ayatollahs-of-the-right-wing-we-re-fighting-for/) [Howard Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-dean/) > [When I think about capitalism, I think about all the small businesses that were started because we have the opportunity and the freedom in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/when-i-think-about-capitalism-i-think-about-all-the-small-businesses/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [“I’m no hero. I just couldn’t believe that people in this country were so afraid of sex. We have all this freedom in America—freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-no-hero-i-just-couldn-t-believe-that-people-in-this-country-were/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Shelby Steele > [When blacks become humanly visible, when their true beliefs are known, their mask shatters and their symbiotic bond with whites is broken.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/when-blacks-become-humanly-visible-when-their-true-beliefs-are-known/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [I alienated myself from the academic world almost entirely because it's a left-wing world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/i-alienated-myself-from-the-academic-world-almost-entirely-because-it/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Freedom is just freedom. It is a condition, not an agent of change. It does not develop or uplift those who win it. Freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/freedom-is-just-freedom-it-is-a-condition-not-an-agent-of-change-it/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [In Vietnam, America fought one whose communism was driven by an underlying nationalism, the desire to live free of the West. Whatever one may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/in-vietnam-america-fought-one-whose-communism-was-driven-by-an/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Our great presidents have been stewards, men who broadly identified with the whole of America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/our-great-presidents-have-been-stewards-men-who-broadly-identified/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [No doubt Israel and America have made mistakes in the Middle East. Certainly, Israel was born at the price of considerable dislocation and suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/no-doubt-israel-and-america-have-made-mistakes-in-the-middle-east/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [And if you want to make many of our black leaders angry, just tell them that racism is not the number problem that black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/and-if-you-want-to-make-many-of-our-black-leaders-angry-just-tell/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Thomas Sowell, among many others, has articulated the power of individual responsibility as an antidote to black poverty for over 40 years. Black thinkers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/thomas-sowell-among-many-others-has-articulated-the-power-of/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton cannot write a timeless letter to us from a Birmingham jail or walk, as John Lewis did in 1965,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/jesse-jackson-and-al-sharpton-cannot-write-a-timeless-letter-to-us/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [My father bought three ramshackle houses, rebuilt them, rented them out, kept clawing his way up the ladder. A man with a third grade…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/my-father-bought-three-ramshackle-houses-rebuilt-them-rented-them-out/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Whatever I'm doing, I try to write well. I try to give the reader a nice, clean well-written surface, where the writing is transparent.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/whatever-i-m-doing-i-try-to-write-well-i-try-to-give-the-reader-a/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [We have laws on the books. If somebody's discriminating against you, I strongly advocate suing them. That's the most effective thing you can do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/we-have-laws-on-the-books-if-somebody-s-discriminating-against-you-i/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [The first thing I ever heard about Barack Obama was that he had a white mother and a black father. Interestingly, the person who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/the-first-thing-i-ever-heard-about-barack-obama-was-that-he-had-a/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Racism is endemic to the human condition, just as stupidity is. We will always have to be on guard against it. But now it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/racism-is-endemic-to-the-human-condition-just-as-stupidity-is-we-will/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) > [Without an ugly America to loathe, there is no automatic esteem to receive. Thus liberalism's unrelenting current of anti-Americanism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shelby-steele/without-an-ugly-america-to-loathe-there-is-no-automatic-esteem-to/) [Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) [Explore all 132 Shelby Steele quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shelby-steele/) ## More Always quotes > [I think performing has pretty much always been a part of me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isa-briones/i-think-performing-has-pretty-much-always-been-a-part-of-me/) [Isa Briones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isa-briones/) > [I always thought if I was born 2000 years earlier, I would be a monk, probably carving a monastery or some giant pantheon buildings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenova-chen/i-always-thought-if-i-was-born-2000-years-earlier-i-would-be-a-monk/) [Jenova Chen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenova-chen/) > [I always like a character who makes me laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachael-stirling/i-always-like-a-character-who-makes-me-laugh/) [Rachael Stirling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachael-stirling/) > [It's always great to see old friends, especially those I have not been able to see in 15 months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-regal/it-s-always-great-to-see-old-friends-especially-those-i-have-not-been/) [William Regal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-regal/) > [When you step out and do a song in a musical, the easier thing to do is make it funny. But when those transitions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelli-o-hara/when-you-step-out-and-do-a-song-in-a-musical-the-easier-thing-to-do/) [Kelli O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelli-o-hara/) > [I have really good lateral movement. I've always had quick lateral movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/austin-rivers/i-have-really-good-lateral-movement-i-ve-always-had-quick-lateral/) [Austin Rivers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/austin-rivers/) > [There is something magical about being able to feel somebody. And that is something that has always moved me with music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-brink/there-is-something-magical-about-being-able-to-feel-somebody-and-that/) [Maria Brink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-brink/) > [Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore. 'It' has been on Earth for millions of years. He's been in contact with humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-muschietti/mythology-is-something-that-always-has-opportunities-to-explore-it/) [Andy Muschietti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-muschietti/) > [It's not writing in the traditional sense, but I've always said that the writing process continues on the set and even into the editing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-b-weide/it-s-not-writing-in-the-traditional-sense-but-i-ve-always-said-that/) [Robert B. Weide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-b-weide/) > [I always watch my matches back 100 times afterwards because that's how I improve. This is something I've always done, even in NXT.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mandy-rose/i-always-watch-my-matches-back-100-times-afterwards-because-that-s/) [Mandy Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mandy-rose/) > [I've always been of the idea that is doesn't really matter where you are geographically - with 'Lonerism,' we made half the album in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-parker/i-ve-always-been-of-the-idea-that-is-doesn-t-really-matter-where-you/) [Kevin Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-parker/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [Whether it was Little League or playing with your brothers or sisters, that was always a problem. If I would lose - because I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cal-ripken-jr/whether-it-was-little-league-or-playing-with-your-brothers-or-sisters/) [Cal Ripken, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cal-ripken-jr/) > [I always say if you put someone from a small town into a big city for ten years, then when they go back, they'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-colter/i-always-say-if-you-put-someone-from-a-small-town-into-a-big-city-for/) [Mike Colter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-colter/) > [Bayern is always a team that can win the Champions League title in Europe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lothar-matthaus/bayern-is-always-a-team-that-can-win-the-champions-league-title-in/) [Lothar Matthaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lothar-matthaus/) [Browse all 36,048 Always quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/always/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Freedom in America was not always flat. 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