--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Every February, my classmates and I were…" description: "\"“Every February, my classmates and I were herded into assemblies for a ritual review of the Civil Rights Movement. Our teachers urged us toward the exa..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/ta-nehisi-coates-733_black-people_every-february-my-classmates-and-i-were_1478048.png" --- # Every February, my classmates and I were herded into… ![“Every February, my classmates and I were herded into assemblies for a ritual review of the Civil Rights Movement. Our teachers urged us toward the example of freedom marchers, Freedom Riders, and Freedom Summers, and it seemed that the month could not pass without a series of films dedicated to…” quote by Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/ta-nehisi-coates-733_black-people_every-february-my-classmates-and-i-were_1478048.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/ta-nehisi-coates-733_black-people_every-february-my-classmates-and-i-were_1478048.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1f8/ta-nehisi-coates-733_black-people_every-february-my-classmates-and-i-were_1478048.png) > ““Every February, my classmates and I were herded into assemblies for a ritual review of the Civil Rights Movement. Our teachers urged us toward the example of freedom marchers, Freedom Riders, and Freedom Summers, and it seemed that the month could not pass without a series of films dedicated to the glories of being beaten on camera. The black people in these films seemed to love the worst things in life - love the dogs that rent their children apart, the tear gas that clawed at their lungs, the firehoses that tore off their clothes and tumbled them into the streets. They seemed to love the men who raped them, the women who cursed them, love the children who spat on them, the terrorists that bombed them. Why are they showing this to us? Why were only our heroes nonviolent? I speak not of the morality of nonviolence, but of the sense that blacks are in especial need of this morality. Back then all I could do was measure these freedom-lovers by what I knew. Which is to say, I measured them against children pulling out in the 7-Eleven parking lot, against parents wielding extension cords, and "Yeah, nigger, what's up now?" I judged them against the country I knew, which had acquired the land through murder and tamed it under slavery, against the country whose armies fanned out across the world to extend their dominion. The world, the real one, was civilization secured and ruled by savage means. How could the schools valorize men and women whose values society actively scorned? How could they send us out into the streets of Baltimore, knowing all that they were, and then speak of nonviolence?”” [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The education of civil‑rights history often glorifies non‑violent heroes while ignoring broader systemic violence, prompting critical reflection on narrative bias. **In simple terms:** History taught can be selective and biased. Key Takeaway Question dominant narratives. Themes history race education media critical thinking Mood critical provocative Type analytical reflective When to use this quote - school curricula - public lectures - media analysis Key Concepts narrative framing systemic oppression memory studies Questions to Reflect On - What stories are omitted from mainstream history? - How does selective teaching shape identity? A Different Perspective May generalize specific experiences and overlook varied perspectives within movements. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Black people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-people/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Civil Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-right/) [Civil rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-rights/) [Civil rights movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-rights-movement/) [Men and women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-and-women/) [Nonviolence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonviolence/) [Nonviolent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonviolent/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Things in life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-in-life/) [Worst things in life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/worst-things-in-life/) ## Related quotes > [Nonviolence in the sense of mere non-killing does not appear to me, therefore, to be of any improvement on the technique of violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/nonviolence-in-the-sense-of-mere-non-killing-does-not-appear-to-me/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [All who affirm the use of violence admit it is only a means to achieve justice and peace. But peace and justice are nonviolence...the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andr-trocm/all-who-affirm-the-use-of-violence-admit-it-is-only-a-means-to/) Andre Trocme > [I watched a documentary about Freedom Riders. One young woman told her parents, 'I'm going to leave college to ride and represent the future.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-bullock/i-watched-a-documentary-about-freedom-riders-one-young-woman-told-her/) [Sandra Bullock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-bullock/) > [The Freedom Riders literally put their lives and limbs on the line in order to bring about an America that lives up to its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raphael-warnock/the-freedom-riders-literally-put-their-lives-and-limbs-on-the-line-in/) [Raphael Warnock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raphael-warnock/) > [I felt hopeful for the future because Obama is here. But nothing has changed. 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We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/what-sets-black-people-apart-is-not-some-deficit-in-personal/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [Like a lot of people, I'm very, very concerned about Senator Clinton's record. I'm very, very concerned about where her positions were in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/like-a-lot-of-people-i-m-very-very-concerned-about-senator-clinton-s/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [“I drove away, as always, thinking of you. I do not believe that we can stop them, Samori, because they must ultimately stop themselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/i-drove-away-as-always-thinking-of-you-i-do-not-believe-that-we-can/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [What I’m talking about is more than recompense for past injustices—more than a handout, a payoff, hush money, or a reluctant bribe. What I’m…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/what-i-m-talking-about-is-more-than-recompense-for-past-injustices/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [The mainstream sort of presentation of the civil rights movement was not something that I directly inherited.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/the-mainstream-sort-of-presentation-of-the-civil-rights-movement-was/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [ \[Grew up in Hawaii\] that gave \[Barack Obama\] a kind of optimism, an ability to see things, you know, and frankly, an ability to… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/grew-up-in-hawaii-that-gave-barack-obama-a-kind-of-optimism-an/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [“I sensed the schools were hiding something, drugging us with false morality so that we would not see, so that we did not ask:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/i-sensed-the-schools-were-hiding-something-drugging-us-with-false/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [You don't make a case for reparations thinking, 'Oh yeah, people are gonna love this.' I didn't see that coming.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/you-don-t-make-a-case-for-reparations-thinking-oh-yeah-people-are/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) > [“And I know that there are black boys and black girls out there lost in a Bermuda triangle of the mind or stranded in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ta-nehisi-coates/and-i-know-that-there-are-black-boys-and-black-girls-out-there-lost/) [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) [Explore all 388 Ta-Nehisi Coates quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ta-nehisi-coates/) ## More Black people 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/) > [“In any case, white people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who profited by this theft every hour that they lived,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/in-any-case-white-people-who-had-robbed-black-people-of-their-liberty/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [We have to build our own power. We have to win every single political office we can, where we have a majority of black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fannie-lou-hamer/we-have-to-build-our-own-power-we-have-to-win-every-single-political/) [Fannie Lou Hamer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fannie-lou-hamer/) > [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/) > [Black Privilege is a concrete motive that black people benefit from, such as racism but racism on whites. 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The black people in these films seemed to love the worst things in life - love the dogs that rent their children apart, the tear gas that clawed at their lungs, the firehoses that tore off their clothes and tumbled them into the streets. They seemed to love the men who raped them, the women who cursed them, love the children who spat on them, the terrorists that bombed them. Why are they showing this to us? Why were only our heroes nonviolent? I speak not of the morality of nonviolence, but of the sense that blacks are in especial need of this morality. Back then all I could do was measure these freedom-lovers by what I knew. Which is to say, I measured them against children pulling out in the 7-Eleven parking lot, against parents wielding extension cords, and \"Yeah, nigger, what's up now?\" I judged them against the country I knew, which had acquired the land through murder and tamed it under slavery, against the country whose armies fanned out across the world to extend their dominion. The world, the real one, was civilization secured and ruled by savage means. How could the schools valorize men and women whose values society actively scorned? 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