Had the Holocaust happened in Tahiti or the Congo, as it has; had it happened in South America, as it has; had it happened in the West Indies, as it has - you must remember that within fifty years of Columbus's arrival, only the bones remained of the people called the Arawaks, with one or two of them in Spain as specimens. Had the Holocaust committed under the Nazis happened somewhere else, we wouldn't be talking about it the way we talk about it.
Jamaica KincaidThe space between the idea of something and its reality is always wide and deep and dark. The longer they are kept apartโidea of thing, reality of thingโthe wider the width, the deeper the depth, the thicker and darker the darkness.
Jamaica KincaidI was then at the height of my two-facedness: that is, outside I seemed one way, inside I was another; outside false, inside true.
Jamaica KincaidBut some natives--most natives in the world--cannot go anywhere. They are too poor. They are too poor to go anywhere. They are too poor to escape the reality of their lives; and they are too poor to live properly in the place where they live, which is the very place you, the tourist, want to go--so when the natives see you, the tourist, they envy you, they envy your ability to leave your own banality and boredom, they enjoy your ability to turn their own banality and boredom into a source of pleasure for yourself.
Jamaica Kincaid...yet a memory cannot be trusted, for so much of the experience of the past is determined by the experience of the present.
Jamaica KincaidAt the time I was taught to read, it was an Eden-like time of my life. My mother adored me. Everyone adored me. So I associate reading with enormous pleasure.
Jamaica KincaidThe African-American is often used, and has conspired with the rest of America to be used, as a diversion from America's problems. I wish African-Americans would stop contributing to this sideshow. I also wish all African-Americans would cease to sing and dance just for a generation. I think we provide too much entertainment.
Jamaica Kincaid