--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I was raised in a completely black world…" description: "\"I was raised in a completely black world. In those days, if a white woman married a black man, she lived as a black woman, and that was just the end of..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/027/shelby-steele-3370_black_i-was-raised-in-a-completely-black-world_1194046.png" --- # I was raised in a completely black world. In those days… ![“I was raised in a completely black world. In those days, if a white woman married a black man, she lived as a black woman, and that was just the end of it. So, I don't have a feeling of being bi-racial. I don't have a connection to it. People often come up to me thinking I do have a connection to…” quote by Shelby Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/027/shelby-steele-3370_black_i-was-raised-in-a-completely-black-world_1194046.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/027/shelby-steele-3370_black_i-was-raised-in-a-completely-black-world_1194046.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/027/shelby-steele-3370_black_i-was-raised-in-a-completely-black-world_1194046.png) > “I was raised in a completely black world. In those days, if a white woman married a black man, she lived as a black woman, and that was just the end of it. So, I don't have a feeling of being bi-racial. I don't have a connection to it. People often come up to me thinking I do have a connection to it, and I kind of let them down because I really don't.” [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. The speaker feels disconnected from a bi‑racial identity due to personal upbringing and societal expectations. **In simple terms:** He does not identify as bi‑racial despite mixed heritage. Key Takeaway Acknowledge personal identity without external assumptions. Themes identity race personal narrative Mood introspective neutral Type personal social When to use this quote - family discussions - media representation - community engagement - self‑reflection Key Concepts social construct racial identity formation Questions to Reflect On - How does society shape racial identity? - What does it mean to claim or reject a mixed heritage? A Different Perspective Societal pressure may conflict with self‑perception. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Black women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-women/) [Connections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/connections/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Racial](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racial/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I always considered myself bi-racial, because I didn't want to disconnect from either side, and I felt very strongly about that. 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You're married to a sister so we'll give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blair-underwood/i-heard-we-ll-get-you-a-pass-because-we-know-you-re-married-to-a/) [Blair Underwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blair-underwood/) > [Its a shock to some I married a Black man his name is Gareth third generation African. but its really an honour to have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-macdonald/its-a-shock-to-some-i-married-a-black-man-his-name-is-gareth-third/) [Kyle MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-macdonald/) > [Our family is mixed. My oldest sister married a black man in 1962, which was way out there then.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/duff-mckagan/our-family-is-mixed-my-oldest-sister-married-a-black-man-in-1962/) [Duff McKagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/duff-mckagan/) > [ Being bi-racial and being young along with being American and Canadian \[allows me to\] try and cover all the bases and expand my fan… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/being-bi-racial-and-being-young-along-with-being-american-and/) [Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/) > [Love is being Married to a Black man in a same sex relationship. facing all kind's of discrimination but after 8 year's The love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kyle-macdonald/love-is-being-married-to-a-black-man-in-a-same-sex-relationship/) [Kyle MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kyle-macdonald/) > [The story that I wanna tell is pretty much about the way I grew up. Being bi-racial, growing up in a big city and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lenny-kravitz/the-story-that-i-wanna-tell-is-pretty-much-about-the-way-i-grew-up/) [Lenny Kravitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lenny-kravitz/) > [Being bi-racial and being from the country, I can talk to guys like Travis Frederick from Wisconsin and Doug Free from Wisconsin. And then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dak-prescott/being-bi-racial-and-being-from-the-country-i-can-talk-to-guys-like/) [Dak Prescott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dak-prescott/) > [When I think of my mother, I can't help but think of the head-spinning ignorance she endured to marry my dad and have me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cord-jefferson/when-i-think-of-my-mother-i-can-t-help-but-think-of-the-head-spinning/) [Cord Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cord-jefferson/) > [It wouldn't have mattered to my mother if I married a black, was gay, lived in a commune or wore a dress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-weinberg/it-wouldn-t-have-mattered-to-my-mother-if-i-married-a-black-was-gay/) [George Weinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-weinberg/) > [“I don't always think of myself as ethnic...my mom is Black, and my dad is White, and we like to call my race"Bi-racial". Everyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tara-michener/i-don-t-always-think-of-myself-as-ethnic-my-mom-is-black-and-my-dad/) [Tara Michener](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tara-michener/) > [For so long, black conservatives have not been able to have a voice; people who have bi-racial children, people in bi-racial relationships, it has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/candace-owens/for-so-long-black-conservatives-have-not-been-able-to-have-a-voice/) [Candace Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/candace-owens/) > [I am not in the least bit racist. I have a sister that's married to a black guy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cody-garbrandt/i-am-not-in-the-least-bit-racist-i-have-a-sister-that-s-married-to-a/) [Cody Garbrandt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cody-garbrandt/) ## 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 Black quotes > [I wanted to write about voodoo tradition that I feel has been very important to survival of black people here: people of the African…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesmyn-ward/i-wanted-to-write-about-voodoo-tradition-that-i-feel-has-been-very/) [Jesmyn Ward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesmyn-ward/) > [When you go to a club it's not about being black or white or heavy or thick. 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Wilderson III > [I know how hard it is to be a woman, especially a black woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-tyson/i-know-how-hard-it-is-to-be-a-woman-especially-a-black-woman/) [Mike Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-tyson/) > [If soot stains your tunic, dye it black. This is vengeance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-scott-bakker/if-soot-stains-your-tunic-dye-it-black-this-is-vengeance/) [R. Scott Bakker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-scott-bakker/) > [Hollywood is so fixated on keeping it that way because it's generating the buzz, but that representation isn't right. I definitely feel like it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-boyega/hollywood-is-so-fixated-on-keeping-it-that-way-because-it-s/) [John Boyega](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-boyega/) > [Nowadays most people wear black most of the time anyway: go to a literary party and one would imagine everyone there was in perpetual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/nowadays-most-people-wear-black-most-of-the-time-anyway-go-to-a/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [There ain't no such thing as black Muslims. 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