Power in the hands of the reformer is no less potentially corrupting than in the hands of the oppressor.

Courage is a finite resource, it is exhausted by the terrors we face.

Education leads to enlightenment. Enlightenment opens the way to empathy. Empathy foreshadows reform.

Few whites are ready to actively promote civil rights for blacks.

We live in a system that espouses merit, equality, and a level playing field, but exalts those with wealth, power, and celebrity, however gained.

All ethical people strive to choose "right" over "easy" when confronted by situations that force them to choose one or the other.

The challenge throughout has been to tell what I view as the truth about racism without causing disabling despair.