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I like to call the ethos I grew up with 'Oklahoma values.' But you'd be just as accurate if you said 'American values.' Except for our lack of a seacoast, Oklahoma has a little bit of just about everything that's American.

J. C. Watts

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J. C. Watts
Age: 66
Born: 1957
Born: November 18
American Football Player
Canadian Football Player
Former U.S. Representative
Politician
Eufaula
Oklahoma
Everything
Except
Like
Grew
Bits
Call
American
Ethos
Values
Oklahoma
Littles
Accurate
Little
Lack

More quotes by J. C. Watts

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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.
J. C. Watts
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In 1989 when I switched from Democrat to Republican, with God as my witness, not one thing changed about what I believed about one man and one woman in a marriage or about diversity of color. That's a good thing.
J. C. Watts
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I think in politics, in Congress, you often do things that are Republican, or you do things because you're a Democrat. Sometimes that's good, obviously, and sometimes that's obviously bad. But in the news business, there's no such thing as Republican or Democratic news. News is news.
J. C. Watts
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The measure of a man is not how great his faith is, but how great his love is. We must not let government programs disconnect our souls from each other.
J. C. Watts
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Republicans think that the NAACP is the only voice in the black community. It is a voice in the black community. But it's not the only voice.
J. C. Watts
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There is a direct correlation between education, stable families and incarceration and crime.
J. C. Watts
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Reparations, I believe, are talked about for political reasons, trying to cater for the purpose of getting votes. If Congress was serious about reparations - in '93 and '94 the Democrats controlled the House, the Senate and the White House, and not one single Republican vote was needed for reparations.
J. C. Watts
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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.
J. C. Watts
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I'm not one that believes that affirmative action should be based on one's skin color or one's gender, I think it should be done based on one's need, because I think if you are from a poor white community, I think that poor white kid needs a scholarship just as badly as a poor black kid.
J. C. Watts
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It doesn't take a lot of strength to hang on. It takes a lot of strength to let go.
J. C. Watts
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In 2008, as a matter of fact, I had people accusing me of being a Senator Obama supporter because I wouldn't slam him. I said, 'Well, consider the fact that I voted for impeachment for President Clinton, but it wasn't a personal vote. I voted based on the facts and the law and the Constitution and what we were dealing with.'
J. C. Watts
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In addition, there is one title I cherish a great deal more than Congressman and that is the title of... Dad.
J. C. Watts
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I embrace my blackness, just as I do my conservatism and my Christianity, but I don't want to be defined or pigeonholed by any one of the many elements that make up my character.
J. C. Watts
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As an Oklahoma quarterback, you learn to perform under pressure.
J. C. Watts
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A Black man voting for the Republicans makes about as much sense as a chicken voting for Col. Sanders.
J. C. Watts
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Most of all, however, critics of black conservatives say we've forgotten where we came from. I may forget a federal budget number or, God forbid, to set the alarm clock for my weekly 6 a.m. flight to Washington, but I know exactly where I came from.
J. C. Watts
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I would love to be associated with some sports organization. I was a journalism major. That's kind of intriguing, to do something in the political-commentary arena.
J. C. Watts
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There can't be opportunity or jobs without investment and profit.
J. C. Watts
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Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught.
J. C. Watts
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Governor is not the position to have in Oklahoma. It is the head coach of Oklahoma or Oklahoma State or Tulsa.
J. C. Watts