Political Quotes

“I think in many instances what has happened, many of the jobs that traditionally were held by African American males no longer exist in this country. For example, African American males worked in production. First it was in farm production. Then with the industrial revolution, they went into the factories and worked in production again. Now that we are becoming more and more of a high-tech service economy, we have not provided a thinking process where young African American boys have recognized in many instances that the jobs their grandfathers had and fathers had that they could expect to get no longer exist, so they have fallen behind in many instances in school because their father did not have to get an education, they did not get an education. My father did not have much education, my uncle who I celebrate right now, he just became 100 years old, neither one of them had any education; but they were two of the smartest men I have ever known in my life. And they had these coping skills. They developed these coping skills to deal with the environment of which they were a part. So we have to find ways to help bring all of our society into the 21st century so that everybody can have an opportunity to play on an even playing field.”