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.

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

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

I live to harass white folks.

Black people are the magical faces at the bottom of society's well. Even the poorest whites, those who must live their lives only a few levels above, gain their self-esteem by gazing down on us. Surely, they must know that their deliverance depends on letting down their ropes. Only by working together is escape possible. Over time, many reach out, but most simply watch, mesmerized into maintaining their unspoken commitment to keeping us where we are, at whatever cost to them or to us (Bell).

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