I had begun to see a new map of the world, one that was frightening in its simplicity, suffocating in its implications. We were always playing on the white man's court, Ray had told me, by the white man's rules. If the principal, or the coach, or a teacher, or Kurt, wanted to spit in your face, he could, because he had power and you didn't. If he decided not to, if he treated you like a man or came to your defense, it was because he knew that the words you spoke, the clothes you wore, the books you read, your ambitions and desires, were already his. Whatever he decided to do, it was his decision to make, not yours, and because of that fundamental power he held over you, because it preceded and would outlast his individual motives and inclinations, any distinction between good and bad whites held negligible meaning. Barack Obama
About This Quote

In The Fire Next Time, by James Baldwin, he speaks about the even power that can come from a person of colour. He demonstrates how the white man has the power to do anything at all, and because of a larger system, a system that supports white supremacy, this power is not questioned. Because it is seen as "good" and moral for a white person to have that power, it is not questioned. Because it is seen as natural for a white person to have that power, it is not questioned.

Because the white man has been trained to see their actions as "good" and natural, it is not questioned. In this book by James Baldwin, he speaks about the struggle in which an individual must go through when they are in the position of being oppressed by a group of people. The struggle in which an individual has to question their self-worth and ask themselves: "Am I good enough?" and "Am I worthy?"

Source: Dreams From My Father: A Story Of Race And Inheritance

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