Race & Ethnicity

Deeply saddened by the loss of Senator Edward Brooke. He was a true trailblazer; those of us who followed cannot thank him enough. Rest in peace.

Stuart [Scott]'s flair and finesse brought flavor and coolness to ESPN, and he opened the door for many other minorities to follow in his footsteps. Stuart, my brother, you have left a positive, lasting impression on not only the sports world, but the entire world as a whole.

Isn’t 007 supposed to [be] handsome? Glad you think I’ve got a shot!

Anyone who's standing with us, we want you to not use Eric Garner's name for violence, because we are not about that. I'm standing here in sorrow about losing those two police officers.

The time for remorse would have been when my husband was screaming to breath.

I hate white people who come to me with all their race-related questions. Like, go read a book. I am not your literal Encyclopedia Brown.

The decision…to announce the [Ferguson] decision at 8:30 p.m. CT was foolish and dangerous. Here's the thing about that time of night: it's dark. Anyone – anyone! - should have known the decision in the Brown case would have been controversial. A decision not to indict, which was always possible, even likely, would have been sure to attract protests, even violence. Crowd control is always more difficult in the dark.

Many of the naysayers out there said that Utah would never elect a black, Republican, LDS (Mormon) woman to Congress. Not only did we do it, we were the first to do it.

In South Carolina - in America - it takes a generation to go from having a grandfather who is picking cotton, to a grandson in Congress. We are thankful for those trailblazers who came before us and said the status quo was not enough…Our values and our issues are central. The most important things we have to offer are on the inside. This is the testament to progress made.

We as black people are never going to be successful - not because of you white people - but because of other black people…For some reason, we are brainwashed to think, ‘if you're not a thug or an idiot, you're not black enough. If you go to school, make good grades, speak intelligent, and don't break the law, you're not a good black person.’ It's a dirty, dark secret in the black community.

Racial discrimination in elections in Texas is no mere historical artifact. To the contrary, Texas has been found in violation of the Voting Rights Act in every redistricting cycle from and after 1970.

We want to believe that diversity can transform the relationship of police to the communities they serve. But odds are good that it doesn’t, and it won’t. Given the fraught history of blacks and law enforcement, blue—it seems—is the only color that matters.