"Has he paid his dues? Is he black enough? … John Lewis and I were out there marching and organizing sit-ins back in the '60s so that his children and my children would not have to do it. … We would have been failures if had to do the same things we did."

“Rep. James Clyburn, the state's only black congressman -- controls 20 percent to 25 percent of the primary vote.”

“Education is the great equalizer, and shouldn’t be limited to the wealthiest few.”

“Today President Bush has failed the American people and especially people of color. Despite the lip service he and his party have given in recent weeks to building racial unity, his latest action seeks to perpetuate the current effects of past discrimination. … President Bush's decision to join this misguided attempt to resegregate our public institutions is regrettable.”

“I have no problems with private schools. I graduated from one and so did my mother.”

“I don't think there's a quick fix to this. I don't think there's any simple way to deal with this. And I will not support amnesty for anybody, I mean, that would be rewarding bad behavior.”