I always tell young people to hold on to their dreams. And sometimes you have to stand up for what you think is right even if you have to stand alone.
CLAUDETTE COLVINThe light-skinned girls always thought they were better looking. So did the teachers, too. That meant most of the dark complexion ones didn’t like themselves.
More Claudette Colvin Quotes
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I was ostracized by my community.
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I became aware of how the world is and how the white establishment plays black people against each other.
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When our founding fathers drafted the Constitution and Bill of Rights, black people weren’t even considered human.
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I was about four years old the first time I ever saw what happened when you acted up to whites.
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A lot of African American women wanted to emulate white women. But I said in my mind, rationally thinking, there is no way you are going to get your hair that straight, especially in the summer.
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Young people think Rosa Parks just sat down on a bus and ended segregation, but that wasn’t the case at all.
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I lost most of my friends. Their parents had told them to stay away from me, because they said I was crazy, I was an extremist.
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Being dragged off that bus was worth it just to see Barack Obama become president, because so many others gave their lives and didn’t get to see it, and I thank God for letting me see it.
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For African-Americans, it’s still going to be – some people say double hard – I’d say four times as hard. Be an opportunist. Take advantage of your resources, because the only way to win is with education, self-esteem, having value in yourself.
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When I told my mother I was pregnant, I thought she was going to have a heart attack.
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Rosa Parks wasn’t the first one to rebel against the segregated seats. I was the first one.
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I wanted the young African-American girls also on the bus to know that they had a right to be there, because they had paid their fare just like the white passengers.
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We were churchgoing people.
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What do we have to do to make God love us?’ I always grew up with that. I always used to go around thinking that. ‘God loved the white people better. He must’ve. That’s why he made them white.’
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I never swore when I was young.
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