A lot of black people believe that Jews in this country have become white. They behave like white people rather than Jewish people.

Write about something you don't know. And don't be scared, ever.

I sometimes lose interest in the characters and get much more interested in the trees and animals.

Like Guitar in Son of Solomon, and Son in Tar Baby, he believed that harmony could never exist between the races.

Black people have always been used as a buffer in this country between powers to prevent class war.

When you stiffen, you know that whatever you stiffen about is very important. The stuff is important, the fear itself is information.

If you take racism away from certain people - I mean, vitriolic racism as well as the sort of social racist - if you take that away, they may have to face something really terrible, misery, self-misery, and deep pain about who they are.