1950s, Address at the Philadelphia Convention Hall (1956)
Context: The right of no nation depends upon the date of its birth or the size of its power. As there can be no second class citizens before the law of America, so—we believe—there can be no second-class nations before the law of the world community.
“It is a trite yet urgently true observation that if America is to remain a first-class nation, it cannot have second-class citizens.”
1960s, The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousnes (1960)
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Martin Luther King, Jr. 658
American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Ci… 1929–1968Related quotes
1950s, Remarks at the United Negro College Fund luncheon (1953)
“A second class mind, but a first class temperament.”
A summation of his opinion of Theodore Roosevelt, indicated in various letters, but not recorded in so succinct a form; often incorrectly stated as his opinion of Franklin D. Roosevelt, as indicated in the p. xiv–xv Introduction to The Essential Holmes (1992) http://books.google.com/books?id=HamEkfqdMcEC&pg=PR14&lpg=PR14, edited by Richard A. Posner.
Attributions
As quoted in The Observer (30 January 1983)
“In America there are two classes of travel — first class, and with children.”
Source: "Kiddie-Kar Travel", Pluck and Luck (1925) http://books.google.com/books?id=ODtLAAAAIAAJ&q=%22In+America+there+are+two+classes+of+travel+first+class+and+with+children%22&pg=PA6#v=onepage; also in D.A.C. News http://www.dacnews.com/, September 1923 http://books.google.com/books?id=uLl9ULzkvikC&q=%22Kiddie+kar+travel%22&pg=PA27#v=onepage
Letter to Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (June 6, 1953); Source: United States of America Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the 84th Congress, First Session, Volume 101, Part 8, July 1, 1955 to July 19, 1955 (Pages 9697 to 11002), here page 9743 https://books.google.de/books?id=iOsH3GosOr4C&pg=PA9743&lpg=PA9743&dq=We+have+not+taken+and+we+shall+not+take+a+single+backward+step.+There+must+be+no+second+class+citizens+in+this+country.&source=bl&ots=K03o4EGJa7&sig=ACfU3U0UNcrI-GB16SjdgDCoI3g2chwJkg&hl=de&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjVu9eS9rzuAhUJkhQKHeSKBNEQ6AEwBXoECAYQAg#v=onepage&q=We%20have%20not%20taken%20and%20we%20shall%20not%20take%20a%20single%20backward%20step.%20There%20must%20be%20no%20second%20class%20citizens%20in%20this%20country.&f=false.
1950s
“Of all second-class citizens, neurotics are the only ones who are so by choice.”
The Complete Neurotic's Notebook (1981), Neurotics and neurosis
Source: Ten Little Wizards (1988), Chapter 7 (p. 62)
“That which in England we call the middle class is in America virtually the nation.”
"A Word More About America" (1885)