As there were no black Founding Fathers, there were no founding mothers - a great pity, on both counts.

Be as bold as the first man or [woman] to eat an oyster.

The difference between de jure and de facto segregation is the difference between open, forthright bigotry and the shamefaced kind that works through unwritten agreements between real estate dealers, school officials, and local politicians.

Congress seems drugged and inert most of the time... its idea of meeting a problem is to hold hearings or, in extreme cases, to appoint a commission.

... all Americans are the prisoners of racial prejudice.

I have never cared too much what people say. What I am interested in is what they do.

Of my two `handicaps,' being female put more obstacles in my path than being black.