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Racism rests upon and functions as a kind of seesaw: the persecutor rises by debasing and inferiorizing his victim.

— Albert Memmi Racism (1982)

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More quotes by Albert Memmi

The most serious blow suffered by the colonized is being removed from history and from the community. Colonization usurps any free role in either war or peace, every decision contributing to his destiny and that of the world, and all cultural and social responsibility.

The Colonizer and the Colonized (1957)

Sleep, when one has no worries, tastes like honey.

The Pillar of Salt (1953)

It must be acknowledged that not many Jews took an active part in the struggle for [Tunisian] independence, but neither did the mass of Tunisian non-Jews.

Who is an Arab Jew? (1975)

Obviously, the misfortune of the Arabs does not arise from the existence of Israel; even if the country didn't exist, none of these problems would be resolved.

Decolonization and the Decolonized (2006)

There is a strange kind of tragic enigma associated with the problem of racism. No one, or almost no one, wishes to see themselves as racist; still racism persists, real and tenacious.

Racism (1982)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Albert Memmi (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.