The first step toward tolerance is respect and the first step toward respect is knowledge.

I give a speech to the black freshmen at Harvard each year, and I say, "You can like Mozart and ice hockey..." - and then I used to say "golf," but Tiger took over golf! - "and Picasso and still be as black as the ace of spades."

Ever since I watched 'Roots,' I've dreamed of tracing my African ancestry and helping other people do the same.

I knew that there were black people in Africa, of course, unfortunately because of movies such as 'Tarzan.'

The story of the African-American people is the story of the settlement and growth of America itself, a universal tale that all people should experience.

Kansas City Lightning succeeds as few biographies of jazz musicians have. . . This book is a magnificent achievement; I could hardly put it down.

You can find virtually everybody black back as far as the 1870 census. Why 1870? That's when the ex-slaves first have surnames. But if you find your great-great-grandfather in 1870 and it says he's 50, that means he was born in 1820 and you're back to 1820 already. For an American that's pretty damned good, you know?