Quote

The Afro-American is thus the backbone of the South.

Somebody must show that the Afro-American race is more sinned against than sinning, and it seems to have fallen upon me to do so.

I am not an African. I am an American.

I mean, the greatest athletes in the world are African-American.

When we say Afro American, we include everyone in the Western Hemisphere of African descent. South America is America. Central America is America. South America has many people in it of African descent.

Obama is not an African American president, but a president of all Americans. It doesn't matter if you are black, white, Hispanic, he's the president of all races.

Like any group that has endured much, African Americans have created a strong and mutually reinforcing sense of group identity. That's not a bad thing in and of itself.

Most African Americans, especially the men and women from my generation, would accept the nationalist gambit that says only European Americans can be racists, which is an interesting gambit.

I'm not a racist.

Being born in Jamaica, race was never an issue. It was always about the type of person I wanted to be, not the colour of my skin.