Annie Elizabeth Delany Quotes

• I think I'm just as good as anyone. That's the way I was brought up. I'll tell you a secret: I think I'm better! Ha! I remember being aware that colored people were supposed to feel inferior. I knew I was a smart little thing, a personality, an individual - a human being! I couldn't understand how people could look at me and not see that, because it sure was obvious to me.

  Annie Elizabeth Delany

  Smart, Thinking, People

  7 Copy quote

• It always seemed to me that white people were judged as individuals. But if a Negro did something stupid or wrong, it was held against all of us.

  Annie Elizabeth Delany

  Stupid, White, Racism

  Sarah Louise Delany, Annie Elizabeth Delany, Amy Hill Hearth (1993). “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years”, p.129, Kodansha America

  6 Copy quote

• [My mother told me:] "You must decide whether you want to get married someday, or have a career."... I set my sights on the career. I thought, what does any man really have to offer me?

  Annie Elizabeth Delany

  Mother, Men, Careers

  7 Copy quote

• I'm a hundred-and-one years old and at my age, honey, I can say what I want!

  Annie Elizabeth Delany

  Years, Age, Honey

  Sarah Louise Delany, Annie Elizabeth Delany, Amy Hill Hearth (1993). “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years”, p.11, Kodansha America

  10 Copy quote

• When Negroes are average, they fail, unless they are very, very lucky. Now, if you're average and white, honey, you can go far. Just look at Dan Quayle. If that boy was colored he'd be washing dishes somewhere.

  Annie Elizabeth Delany

  Boys, Average, White

  Sarah Louise Delany, Annie Elizabeth Delany, Amy Hill Hearth (1993). “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years”, p.114, Kodansha America

  6 Copy quote

• Once in a while, God sends a good white person my way, even to this day. I think it's God's way of keeping me from becoming too mean. And when he sends a nice one to me, then I have to eat crow. And honey, crow is a tough old bird to eat, let me tell you.

  Annie Elizabeth Delany

  Nice, Mean, Thinking

  Sarah Louise Delany, Annie Elizabeth Delany, Amy Hill Hearth (1993). “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years”, p.77, Kodansha America

  4 Copy quote

• I am a colored woman or a Negro woman. Either one is OK. People dislike those words now. Today these use this term African American. It wouldn't occur to me to use that. I prefer to think of myself as an American, that's all!

  Annie Elizabeth Delany

  Thinking, People, African American

  Sarah Louise Delany, Annie Elizabeth Delany, Amy Hill Hearth (1993). “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years”, p.75, Kodansha America

  4 Copy quote

• Turning one hundred was the worst birthday of my life. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Turning 101 was not so bad. Once you're past that century mark, it's just not as shocking.

  Annie Elizabeth Delany

  Past, Worst Enemy, Wish

  Sarah Louise Delany, Annie Elizabeth Delany, Amy Hill Hearth (1993). “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years”, p.208, Kodansha America

  5 Copy quote

• There are certain stereotypes that are offensive. Some of them don't worry me, though. For instance, I have always thought that Mammy character in Gone with the Wind was mighty funny. And I just loved "Amos 'n' Andy" on the radio. So you see, I have enough confidence in myself that those things did not bother me. I could laugh.

  Annie Elizabeth Delany

  Character, Wind, Laughing

  Sarah Louise Delany, Annie Elizabeth Delany, Amy Hill Hearth (1993). “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years”, p.16, Kodansha America

  4 Copy quote

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