Racial equality means different things in different contexts. It mostly deals with an equal regard to all races.
It can refer to a belief in biological equality of all human races.
It can also refer to social equality for people of different races. It is a stated goal of most current political movements. The divergence of any particular society from a state of racial equality is often contested by members of that society of different races.
Famous quotes containing the words racial and/or equality:
“... the outcome of the Clarence Thomas hearings and his subsequent appointment to the Supreme Court shows how misguided, narrow notions of racial solidarity that suppress dissent and critique can lead black folks to support individuals who will not protect their rights.”
—bell hooks (b. c. 1955)
“I have no purpose to introduce political and social equality between the white and black races. There is a physical difference between the two, which, in my judgement, will probably for ever forbid their living together upon the footing of perfect equality; and inasmuch as it becomes a necessity that there must be a difference, I ... am in favour of the race to which I belong having the superior position.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)