There's nothing that's more unfair or unjust than people using their power to try to make other people feel small, to tell them who they are or what they are capable of, to say their identity doesn't belong.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the injustice of using power to diminish others and dictate their identity.
Jill Biden's quote highlights a critical issue in society where individuals or groups in positions of power attempt to undermine others by belittling their identity and capabilities. This behavior not only reflects a lack of fairness but also poses significant harm to the dignity and self-worth of those targeted, urging us to recognize and resist such injustice.
In practice
During a speech advocating for social justice, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of recognizing and combating abuses of power.
Most women I know have been harassed in some way. And you never wanted to report it, because you were afraid of losing your job or you felt like, hey, did that just happen? I think it's good that women now... have the courage! Because it's not easy.
My students have shown me so many times that it's not always about being the perfect person in the perfect position - it's about showing up when you're needed.
Every day, women and girls are finding incredible confidence and taking risks. When they change one mind, pretty soon, they have changed one tradition. That changed tradition has changed a village. That one village has changed a country. That new reality means new opportunities for themselves and their daughters.
You know, cancer is bipartisan. I mean, there are so many people whose lives are touched and changed by cancer that people are willing to work together to find cures, find solutions, make lives better for cancer patients. So I think people put politics aside. This isn't a political thing. This is a life issue.
I worry about my children worrying about me, feeling like they need to be the strong ones. It's not the right order of things.
It could achieve a lot if everyone in Burma could stop saying something is good if it is not good, or say something is just if it is not just.
I'd been in jail, and I'd been beat. I had been to a voter registration workshop, you know, to - they were just training and teaching us how to register, to pass the literacy test.
I have seen war. I have seen war on land and sea. I have seen blood running from the wounded. I have seen men coughing out their gassed lungs. I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed. I have seen 200 limping, exhausted men come out of line—the survivors of a regiment of 1,000 that went forward 48 hours before. I have seen children starving. I have seen the agony of mothers and wives. I hate war.
I say: The time has come for my courageous and proud people, after decades of displacement and colonial occupation and ceaseless suffering, to live like other peoples of the earth, free in a sovereign and independent homeland.
I tell people, if you're thinking about suicide, all that stuff I've attempted and thought about it. If you think about it, life gets better. The key to life when it gets tough is to keep moving. Just keep moving.
When I was growing up, officers in uniform were very impressive to me. They were doing a job. They were protecting our country; they were heroes. When you wear an old military jacket, there's some sort of connection to those qualities - to being strong, to being tough, to being a warrior.
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