J. C. Watts
The Republican Party is terrific at determining how a program will impact the federal budget, but we're not nearly as good as the Democrats in explaining to people how our agenda will directly benefit them and their families.
For longer than I've been involved in the political process, the Republican establishment has claimed to want to provide an alternative for the black community, yet party elite refuse to show up for the game.
The more I ponder some of the boneheaded decisions GOP candidates have made of late, I can't bring myself to believe that they are serious about capturing more than about 8 percent of the black vote.
I have often said one of the reasons more blacks don't support Republicans is because they don't trust the GOP establishment.
Governor is not the position to have in Oklahoma. It is the head coach of Oklahoma or Oklahoma State or Tulsa.
You always hear 'black Republican,' but you never hear 'white Democrat.' We've got to get beyond the labels and stereotypes. Other people have hang-ups about it. I don't.
As an Oklahoma quarterback, you learn to perform under pressure.
I think that anybody that stays in school, gets good grades, pays the price, I think we are wealthy enough in the public and the private sector in America to make sure that every child in America that wants to continue their education, they should be able to do that.
That's the way blacks have been encouraged to think: that we got to stick together. You've got a situation today where if a black person says he thinks O.J. Simpson's guilty, other blacks will cut their eyes at him and say, 'You ought to go somewhere and sit down and shut up.'
Individual responsibility, hard work, paying attention in school, faith, family all these things are important.
It takes a lot of strength to let go.Collection: Letting Go
Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking.Collection: Inspirational
You take a poor black child. Give him a good education, tell him he's somebody, that God didn't create junk when he created him, and that black child will create his own affirmative action.Collection: Children
A Black man voting for the Republicans makes about as much sense as a chicken voting for Col. Sanders.Collection: Men
The American dream does not happen by asking Americans to accept what's immoral and wrong in the name of tolerance.Collection: Dream
There is a war being waged right now on prayer and religion by liberals who are taking every opportunity to make America as God-less as possible.Collection: Prayer
We have seen the Democrat solution to an energy crisis; it's called California.Collection: California
We need to make sure that every child in America goes to a school every day that is safe, will teach them how to read and write, do arithmetic and gain the computer skills necessary to allow them to compete in the global marketplace. If we can get that through the public schools, fine. If we can't, I'm all for parental choice in education to allow that parent to take his/her/their child to a school that is safe and teaches them, even if it is a faith-based school!Collection: Children
Death and taxes may be inevitable, but they shouldn't be related.Collection: Sarcastic
To say America can have strong leadership without strong character is to say we can get water without the wet.Collection: Strong
I believe government should be loyal to parents, teachers and children.Collection: Teacher
Consider in Washington, around the country today we are talking about balanced budgets, paying down our national debt, getting the economy going, defending ourselves, activist judges. Newt Gingrich did all those things when he was speaker. We got tax relief. We got balanced budgets. We got, you know, job creation. We paid down our national debt.Collection: Country
They said that I had sold out and (am an) Uncle Tom. And I said well, they deserve to have that view. But I have my thoughts. And I think they're race-hustling poverty pimps.Collection: Uncles
If a 25-year old can't read and write and he or she isn't gaining marketable skills, it doesn't matter if a Republican or a Democrat is in the White House. His or her future will be bleak.Collection: Writing
You saw the exodus of many people on the business council, who resigned, who said those are not my personal values, those are not our corporate values, and those - we don't believe - are the values of our country.Collection: Country
I was taught to respect everyone for the simple reason that we're all God's children. I was taught, in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.... to judge a man not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character. And I was taught that character...is simply doing what's right when nobody's looking.Collection: Kings
Americans are hungry for a discussion on policy solutions to the problems in their communities that work.Collection: Community
Education is a bipartisan issue that concern all communities of color and should be first, last and always about the student learning.Collection: Color
Too many Americans live by Republican principles of faith, family, hope and opportunity, but vote for Democrats out of sheer habit.Collection: Opportunity
My father taught that the only helping hand you're ever going to be able to rely on is the one at the end of your sleeve.Collection: Wisdom
There can't be opportunity or jobs without investment and profit.Collection: Jobs
There is a direct correlation between education, stable families and incarceration and crime.Collection: Crime
Serving in Congress has been more than an honor; it has been one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life ... It has been a wonderful ride. It has been a wonderful journey.Collection: Journey