At 20 and 30, we are like travelers in a foreign country, reading the guide book to learn how to behave, to learn when the post office is open. Trivia looms important; critical issues fade into a pastel background, unrecognized. Karen DeCrow Read Quote
Asked to give advice to a 13-year-old girl about how to lead her life, I say find something you love to do. The goal shouldn’t be accumulating money. It might be making changes in the world, or in your country. Karen DeCrow Read Quote
In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that minority set-aside programs in municipal contracts were unconstitutional. The court wondered if there were proof that people of color even want to receive municipal contracts. Karen DeCrow Read Quote
After ‘Roe v. Wade’ – when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973 – I thought the national conversation about abortion and birth control would be over. It was not. Karen DeCrow Read Quote
George McGovern – and I campaigned very hard for his election – was not, in the summer of 1971, a strong feminist ally. But he did come around. Karen DeCrow Read Quote
During the 19th-century struggle for women’s rights in America, many saw a competition between rights for black people and those for women. Karen DeCrow Read Quote
Operas elucidate, in a way sometimes absent in other theatrical productions, the very human fact that in every hero, there is a thread of duplicity. In every villain, there is another side to consider: We don’t have to like him or her, but we are compelled to think about motivation. Karen DeCrow Read Quote
I was running for mayor of Syracuse – the first woman to run for mayor in our city, or in New York, and one of the first in the United States. I was known for my strong conservation plank. In 1969, the term ‘conservation’ was hardly on the tip of every citizen’s tongue. Karen DeCrow Read Quote
The censors have always had a field day with James Joyce, specifically with ‘Ulysses,’ but also with his other writings. The conventional wisdom is that this is because of sexually explicit passages (and there certainly are those). I have always thought that what the critics hated and feared about Joyce is his cry for human freedom. Karen DeCrow Read Quote
Despite the strength of the feminist movement in the 1970s and beyond, a fable has persisted that educated women are rejected as marriage partners. Karen DeCrow Read Quote
