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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
Make
Blackness
Conservatism
Defined
Embrace
Elements
Christianity
Character
Many
Pigeonholed

More quotes by 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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I think Newt Gingrich has a proven track record of changing Washington and getting results.
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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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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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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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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Death and taxes may be inevitable, but they shouldn't be related.
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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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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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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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.
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
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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 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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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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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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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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Republicans and Democrats have used accounting gimmicks and competing government analyses to deceive the public into believing that 2 + 2 = 6. If our leaders cannot agree on the numbers, if 'facts' are fictional, how can they possibly have a substantive debate on solutions?
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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It doesn't take a lot of strength to hang on. It takes a lot of strength to let go.
J. C. Watts