Richard Rodriguez
Richard Rodriguez
Richard Rodriguezis an American writer who became famous as the author of Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez, a narrative about his intellectual development...
ProfessionNon-Fiction Author
Date of Birth31 July 1944
fall black-and-white thinking
In some ways I consider myself more Chinese, because I live in San Francisco, which is becoming a predominantly Asian city. I avoid falling into the black-and-white dialectic in which most of America still seems trapped. I have always recognized that, as an American, I am in relationship with other parts of the world; that I have to measure myself against the Pacific, against Asia. Having to think of myself in relationship to that horizon has liberated me from the black-and-white checkerboard.
country two white
fter the O.J. Simpson trial there was talk about how the country was splitting in two - one part black, one part white. It was ludicrous: typical gringo arrogance. It's as though whites and blacks can imagine America only in terms of each other. It's mostly white arrogance, in that it places whites always at the center of the racial equation.
kids thinking white
Most American Hispanics don't belong to one race, either. I keep telling kids that, when filling out forms, they should put "yes" to everything - yes, I am Chinese; yes, I am African; yes, I am white; yes, I am a Pacific Islander; yes, yes, yes - just to befuddle the bureaucrats who think we live separately from one another.
daughter black-and-white blood
America has never had a very wide vocabulary for miscegenation. We say we like diversity, but we don't like the idea that our Hispanic neighbor is going to marry our daughter. America has nothing like the Spanish vocabulary for miscegenation. Mulatto, mestizo, Creole - these Spanish and French terms suggest, by their use, that miscegenation is a fact of life. America has only black and white. In eighteenth-century America, if you had any drop of African blood in you, you were black.
black-and-white mexican east
In Sacramento, my brown was not halfway between black and white. On the leafy streets, on the east side of town, where my family lived, where Asians did not live, where Negroes did not live, my family's Mexican shades passed as various.
team kids white
In the Sacramento of the 1950s, it was as though White simply hadn't had time enough to figure Brown out. It was a busy white time. Brown was like the skinny or fat kids left over after the team captains chose sides. You take the rest — my cue to wander away to the sidelines, to wander away.
bats came complete defense played ruby sure tough
Our defense is our trademark, but we just didn't have it today. But you can't take anything away from Hanks. It sure was (their day). Ruby Garza pitched well and their bats came alive. They're a tough team, and they played a complete game.
felt good shot
It felt good when I shot it. I thought it was going in, but it was short.
area living work
If we find housing, we'll be stable. We know the area that we're living in. We'll be able to find work in the vicinities.
looked scars
She had scars all over her legs. She looked about 30 (years old).
elbow seen
It was completely packed, elbow to elbow. It was nothing like we've ever seen before.
expecting growing potential
They are expecting big things from this store. It's a growing area. The potential is astronomical.
beat good
I thought we could beat them, but he is a pretty good player.
absolutely became facts perfect recipe time
All of these facts became the perfect recipe at that time for someone to get away with an act that we absolutely don't condone,