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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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J. C. Watts
Age: 66
Born: 1957
Born: November 18
American Football Player
Canadian Football Player
Former U.S. Representative
Politician
Eufaula
Oklahoma
Embrace
Elements
Christianity
Character
Many
Pigeonholed
Make
Blackness
Conservatism
Defined

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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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.
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
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There can't be opportunity or jobs without investment and profit.
J. C. Watts
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I believe government should be loyal to parents, teachers and children.
J. C. Watts
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I am willing to compete on my merits and on my character - not with the color of my skin. We talk about being a color-blind society, but I don't think the political process could actually handle that.
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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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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My work in the House of Representatives, at this time in my life, is completed. It is time to return home.
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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I'm secure in who I am. I don't need the validation of those that would say, you have to be a certain thing in order to be accepted. I'm comfortable going against the grain if I need to.
J. C. Watts
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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.
J. C. Watts
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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.
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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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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Some might think that George W. Bush had his shortcomings, but let me tell you something - history's going to be kind to George W. Bush.
J. C. Watts
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I still get to preach 14, 15 times a year. But you have to make a living.
J. C. Watts
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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.
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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Individual responsibility, hard work, paying attention in school, faith, family all these things are important.
J. C. Watts