Al Sharpton quotes

Al Sharpton is an American civil rights activist, Baptist minister, and television/radio talk show host. A prominent figure in the fight against racial injustice, he has led numerous protests and founded the National Action Network. He continues to be a vocal advocate for social justice and equality. Here are 73 of his quotes:

Crime is going down everywhere but in the New York City Police Department.

Al Sharpton

I disagree with [Khalid Abdul] Muhammad. I'm against hate, anti-Semitism and homophobia.... This is not a village of hate. It's a village of hope.... Don't let midgets give us a bad name. There are still giants in Harlem giants who will stand up for our children.

Al Sharpton

What's wrong with denouncing white interlopers?

Al Sharpton

But we believed if we kept on working, if we kept on marching, if we kept on voting, if we kept on believing, we would make America beautiful for everybody.

Al Sharpton

They tried to say that being gay is a sin, and I said that adultery is a sin. Adultery is responsible for breaking up more marriages, but do we put that in the Constitution? It's absurd.

Al Sharpton

I'm projected as an ambulance chaser, but I'm more the ambulance. People call me because they know I will come.... I have never fought a case where they didn't ask me to come. People have this picture like I'm sitting up in bed at night with a walkie-talkie. "You hear anything? Oh, let's run! It's Virginia today!"... Every victim calls us.... "Who put Sharpton in charge?"

Al Sharpton

The dream was not to put one black family in the White house, the dream was to make everything equal in everybody's house.

Al Sharpton

Clearly, [President Bush] lied. Now if he is an unconscious liar, and doesn't realize when he's lying, then we're really in trouble.

Al Sharpton

When he said he was going to stop the march and called it a hate march, I think that was very provocative. The Mayor's statements have created a climate that could possibly lead to some kind of confrontation.

Al Sharpton

Jim Crow is old. That's not who I'm mindful of today. The problem is that Jim Crow has sons. The one we've got to battle is James Crow Jr., Esq. He's a little more educated. He's a little slicker. He's a little more polished, but the results are the same.

Al Sharpton

I disagreed with the grand jury on [Tawana] Brawley. I believed there was enough evidence to go to trial. The grand jury said there wasn't. OK, fine. Do I have a right to disagree with the grand jury? Many Americans believe O.J. Simpson was guilty. A jury said he wasn't. So I have as much right to question a jury as they do. Does it make somebody a racist? No! They just disagreed with the jury. So did I.

Al Sharpton

I have no problem with Khalid Abdul Muhammad. My problem is with Giuliani. It is not Khalid who is talking hate. It's Rudy Giuliani.

Al Sharpton

If Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house.

Al Sharpton

I've seen enough things to know that if you just keep on going, if you turn the corner, the sun will be shining.

Al Sharpton

We have defeated Jim Crow, but now we have to deal with his son, James Crow Jr., esquire.

Al Sharpton

Who defines terrorists? Today's terrorist is tomorrow's friend.

Al Sharpton

I was raised by a single mother who made a way for me. She used to scrub floors as a domestic worker, put a cleaning rag in her pocketbook and ride the subways in Brooklyn so I would have food on the table. But she taught me as I walked her to the subway that life is about not where you start, but where you're going. That's family values.

Al Sharpton

We're not willing to give black leaders second chances because, in most cases, we're not willing to give them first chances.

Al Sharpton

I've seen too much in life to give up.

Al Sharpton

The United States government has the obligation to educate all young people in this country.

Al Sharpton

During my 2004 presidential campaign, I was fond of saying that it was high time for the Christian right to meet the right Christians.

Al Sharpton

How do you make things fair?

Al Sharpton