Political Quotes

“I have titled my remarks ``The Color Line Revisited, Is Racism Dead?'' Mr. Speaker, I rise to address the question, is there still a color line in America? Mr. Speaker, when I visit the unemployment office, the persons there are mostly black. When I fly home on the airplanes, the persons there are mostly white. When I go to prisons, Mr. Speaker, most of the prisoners are black. When I visit our inner city schools which are underfunded, overcrowded and often in bad condition, the children are mostly black. When I visit the private academies in my district, the children are mostly white. When I see the victims of police violence, Mr. Speaker, the policemen are mostly white. The victims are mostly black. Yes, there is a color line in America. This color line is green, the color of money; it is red, the color of the lines drawn through black neighborhoods by banks; it is blue, the color of the skin of the black homeless freezing on side streets; it is gray, the color of prison bars; it is yellow, the color of the eyes of junkies in the inner cities. Mr. Speaker, yes, there is a color line. It is a line on the soul of America. It is a line on the mind of America. It is a line around our cities, around our neighborhoods and around our banks. No, it is not absolute as was the line of segregation. It is smeared and vague and in most cases denied, but it is there. It is everything except what they call it. But it is real. It is the line that tells the truth on America.…”