Henry Louis Gates Quotes & Sayings (Page 5)

“It's very lonely being a prominent black intellectual at an institution where you're the only prominent black intellectual. That was the model that was followed in the late 60s when black studies started. You'd get one here and one there and one here, like Johnny Appleseed.”

“In America one drop of black ancestry makes you black. In Brazil, it's almost as if one drop of white ancestry makes you white.”

“People who own property feel a sense of ownership in their future and their society. They study, save, work, strive and vote. And people trapped in a culture of tenancy do not.”

“Ever since I watched 'Roots,' I've dreamed of tracing my African ancestry and helping other people do the same.”

“In fact, the class divide in the black community is now seen by some as a permanent aspect of our existence.”

“There are just so many stories that are buried on family trees.”

“So many people of color who made major contributions to American history have been trapped in the purgatory of history.”

“The bottom line is that Wanda Sykes has the longest continuously documented family tree of any African-American we have ever researched.”

“In America one drop of black ancestry makes you black.”

“It turns out one of my ancestors fought in the Continental Army, so I was inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution.”