One of the things that the court held in Brown v. Board of Education is that government can't impose a badge of inferiority on some of its citizens. Yet that is exactly what Proposition 8 does with respect to gay and lesbian couples in California.
We're now segregating our schools based on economics; we're segregating our schools based on where a child's parents live. And it has the same corrosive effect of destroying people's opportunity as racial segregation did.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the detrimental effects of economic segregation in schools on children's opportunities, akin to the harms of racial segregation.
David Boies draws a parallel between economic segregation in schools and the historical injustices of racial segregation. He argues that when schools are divided based on the socio-economic status of families, it results in significant disparities in educational opportunities for children. This segregation not only limits personal growth but also perpetuates systemic inequality in society, undermining the principle of equal opportunity that education should provide.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about education reform, one might say, 'As David Boies pointed out, our current system is perpetuating inequality, similar to how racial segregation harmed opportunities in the past.'
More from David Boies
All quotes →It's terribly important that we extend the promise of equality that the Supreme Court and that the district court articulated in the DOMA case and in the Perry case to all Americans in all 50 states.
The very purpose of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution is to protect minority rights against majority voters. Every court decision that strikes down discriminatory legislation, including past Supreme Court decisions, affirming the fundamental rights to marry the person you love, overrules a majority decision.
We put fear and prejudice on trial, and fear and prejudice lost.
Unlike people of my generation, my children and my grandchildren have grown up living with, knowing, people who were outwardly gay and lesbian. And they have learned that they're just like us... And when you see that they're just like us, the rationale for discrimination melts away.
Similar quotes
When the panting and thirsting soul first drinks the delicious waters of truth, when the moral and intellectual tastes and desires first seize the fragrant fruits that flourish in the garden of knowledge, then does the child catch a glimpse and foretaste of heaven.
Some children may need a behavioral approach, whereas other children may need a sensory approach.
Take the example of my daughter. A lot of people were speaking out about education when the Taliban were bombing schools in Swat Valley, but Malala's voice was like a crescendo. It spread all around the world. She was the smallest but her voice was the biggest, because she was speaking for herself.
I must remain a child and pupil of the Catechism, and am glad so to remain.
To put it simply, school readiness means creating in this country a public love of children.
Consequently he who wishes to attain to human perfection, must therefore first study Logic, next the various branches of Mathematics in their proper order, then Physics, and lastly Metaphysics.