Power Lines, by Jason Carter: on Civil Rights


Jason Carter: Living as minority in black Africa showed what racism meant

I had grown up with African Americans, gone to school with them and been good friends. I had walked out of my high school (which was about 50% white) with 100s of other students to protest racist remarks by a teacher. I had taken undergraduate courses and participated in extensive discussions about race in America, in large & small groups. But until I had to live as a minority in a community where I was forced to be conscious of my race every day, I had not scratched the surface of what racism meant. In America, like many people, I knew how to talk about racism. But I never really felt like I was living with it until I came to South Africa. Coming to an utterly race-obsessed society where people in my small group of closest friends were harassed, where my job, my neighborhood, and my life made me constantly aware of my color, allowed me, for whatever reason, to finally look black Americans in the face and talk clearly and truthfully about race.
Source: Power Lines, by Jason Carter, p.210-1 Jun 1, 2003

  • The above quotations are from Power Lines
    Two Years on South Africa's Borders
    by Jason Carter.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Civil Rights.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Jason Carter on Civil Rights.
  • Click here for more quotes by Jimmy Carter on Civil Rights.
2016 Presidential contenders on Civil Rights:
  Republicans:
Gov.Jeb Bush(FL)
Dr.Ben Carson(MD)
Gov.Chris Christie(NJ)
Sen.Ted Cruz(TX)
Carly Fiorina(CA)
Gov.Jim Gilmore(VA)
Sen.Lindsey Graham(SC)
Gov.Mike Huckabee(AR)
Gov.Bobby Jindal(LA)
Gov.John Kasich(OH)
Gov.Sarah Palin(AK)
Gov.George Pataki(NY)
Sen.Rand Paul(KY)
Gov.Rick Perry(TX)
Sen.Rob Portman(OH)
Sen.Marco Rubio(FL)
Sen.Rick Santorum(PA)
Donald Trump(NY)
Gov.Scott Walker(WI) 		Democrats:
Gov.Lincoln Chafee(RI)
Secy.Hillary Clinton(NY)
V.P.Joe Biden(DE)
Gov.Martin O`Malley(MD)
Sen.Bernie Sanders(VT)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren(MA)
Sen.Jim Webb(VA)

2016 Third Party Candidates:
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Roseanne Barr(PF-HI)
Robert Steele(L-NY)
Dr.Jill Stein(G,MA)
Please consider a donation to OnTheIssues.org!
Click for details -- or send donations to:
1770 Mass Ave. #630, Cambridge MA 02140
E-mail: submit@OnTheIssues.org
(We rely on your support!)

Page last updated: Feb 21, 2019