The whole westward expansion myth is seen as romantic. But it's a joke, a blot on American history.

Black history is American history.

I don't want a Black History Month. Black history is American history.

There's so much in American history that has been hidden and shunned.

It's not painful to relive it. I'm comfortable with my position in American history.

Each of us lives with a sword over his head.
There are those who can ignore its shadow and those who cannot. Those who cannot are not necessarily better than those who can. But they are the creators of the special myth of their time, because any myth is the creation of the very few who cannot bear reality.