By reserving the penalty of death for black defendants, or for the poor, or for those convicted of killing white persons, we perpetrate the ugly legacy of slavery-teaching our children that some lives are inherently less precious than others.

I don't absolve the Democrats of their lack of commitment to deal with poverty. But nowadays we're witnessing the widening of the gap. There's something wrong when a handful of people have more than they'll ever need while millions of people have less than they always need.

It's interesting to me that killing damages the image of God when it's done by a person, but it doesn't damage it when it's done by the state.

We've got nearly 50 million people in America with no health insurance. That's a weapon of mass destruction.

Public policy today is favoring the rich, not the poor. It's not addressing the needs of the poor.

If you don't know where you come from, it's difficult to determine where you are.- It's even more difficult to plan where you are going.

Rosa Parks was an unlikely person, but she became an instrument of the people's will in that community who were tired. They said she was tired from working and perhaps she was - but she herself said later that she was spiritually tired and weary of being humiliated by being asked to move back so that a white person could occupy her seat.