“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)

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Martin Luther King, Jr. photo
Martin Luther King, Jr. 658
American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Ci… 1929–1968

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Dwight D. Eisenhower photo

“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.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American general and politician, 34th president of the United States (in office from 1953 to 1961)

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.

Dwight D. Eisenhower photo

“I believe as long as we allow conditions to exist that make for second-class citizens, we are making of ourselves less than first-class citizens.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American general and politician, 34th president of the United States (in office from 1953 to 1961)

1950s, Remarks at the United Negro College Fund luncheon (1953)

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. photo

“A second class mind, but a first class temperament.”

Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. (1841–1935) United States Supreme Court justice

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

Dora Russell photo

“We have never yet had a Labour Government that knew what taking power really means; they always act like second-class citizens.”

Dora Russell (1894–1986) author, feminist, socialist campaigner

As quoted in The Observer (30 January 1983)

Robert Benchley photo

“In America there are two classes of travel — first class, and with children.”

Robert Benchley (1889–1945) American comedian

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

Richard Dedekind photo
Dwight D. Eisenhower photo

“We have not taken and we shall not take a single backward step. There must be no second class citizens in this country.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969) American general and politician, 34th president of the United States (in office from 1953 to 1961)

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.”

Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) American journalist

The Complete Neurotic's Notebook (1981), Neurotics and neurosis

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“That which in England we call the middle class is in America virtually the nation.”

Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools

"A Word More About America" (1885)

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