That is to say, we want our slice of that cake. We do not want to change it from vanilla to chocolate. We want that cake, and our share of it, and we want it now. That is the conscious objective of the Negro movement. However the Negro thinks of his effort to integrate, the very fact that the American institutions, as they now exist, cannot accept the demands of the Negroes and remain what they are. To that extent the Negro revolt is revolutionary.

About This Quote

Negro Revolution in 1965 Speech at The Center for Democratic Institutions Santa Barbara, California - Autumn 1964

More from Bayard Rustin

View all quotes →