I Didn't Know It Was Possible To

But Some Natives--most Natives In The World--cannot Go Anywhere. They Are Too Poor. They Are Too Poor To Go Anywhere. They Are Too Poor To Escape The Reality Of Their Lives; And They Are Too Poor To Live Properly In The Place Where They Live, Which Is The Very Place You, The Tourist, Want To Go--so When The Natives See You, The Tourist, They Envy You, They Envy Your Ability To Leave Your Own Banality And Boredom, They Enjoy Your Ability To Turn Their Own Banality And Boredom Into A Source Of Pleasure For Yourself.

I Didn't Think Of Myself As An Outsider Because Of My Race Because... Where I Grew Up I Was The Same Race As Almost Everyone Else... It Is True That I Noticed Things That No One Else Seemed To Notice. And I Think Only People Who Are Outsiders Do This.

I Used To Want To Be A Backup Singer. Not A Lead Singer, Because I Really Can't Sing.

Had The Holocaust Happened In Tahiti Or The Congo, As It Has; Had It Happened In South America, As It Has; Had It Happened In The West Indies, As It Has - You Must Remember That Within Fifty Years Of Columbus's Arrival, Only The Bones Remained Of The People Called The Arawaks, With One Or Two Of Them In Spain As Specimens. Had The Holocaust Committed Under The Nazis Happened Somewhere Else, We Wouldn't Be Talking About It The Way We Talk About It.

What Frustrates Me Is To See African-americans Behave As Though What European-americans Say Is Worthwhile. It Simply Isn't. It's Just Some Silly People Who Can Make Laws And Have The Power To Enforce Them. I'm Often Amazed At The Conversations Black People Have About Themselves. They Ought To Be Having These Conversations About White People. It's White People Who Are Flawed And At Fault.