The basis for sustainable progress is legal protections grounded in an awareness of how identity has been used to deny opportunity.
Interpretation
Sustainable progress requires legal protections that recognize and address systemic discrimination based on identity.
This quote by Stacey Abrams emphasizes that in order to achieve lasting progress in society, it is essential to implement legal safeguards that are informed by an understanding of how various aspects of identity, such as race, gender, and ethnicity, have historically been exploited to limit access to opportunities. Legal protections serve as a foundation to ensure equality and promote fairness, thus fostering an inclusive environment for all individuals to thrive.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about social justice reforms during a community rally.
I grew up one of six children with working-class parents in the Deep South. My mother was a college librarian, and my father worked in a shipyard. I never saw them balance a checkbook, but they kept a roof over our heads and got all six of us into college.
I do not Google myself, I do not read comments, and I barely look myself in the eye when I look in the mirror.
My being a black woman is not a deficit. It is a strength. Because I could not be where I am had I not overcome so many other barriers. Which means you know I'm relentless, you know I'm persistent, and you know I'm smart.
I like to solve problems. I know it is a skill set, but it's also an obligation. I grew up with parents who believe that you don't simply complain: you try to find solutions and fix what's in front of you.
Here in Georgia, we continue to grapple with our own vestiges of hate. The image carved into Stone Mountain, like Confederate monuments across this state, stand as constant reminders of racism, intolerance, and division.
To achieve our goals of educating bold and ambitious children, we must invest in enriching, quality early child care and learning.
The system functioned relatively automatically, and the prevailing system of racial meanings, identities, and ideologies already seemed natural. Ninety percent of those admitted to prison for drug offenses in many states were Black or Latino, yet the mass incarceration of communities of color was explained in race-neutral terms, an adaptation to the needs and demands of the current political climate.
Far less wealthy industrialized countries have committed to end child poverty, while the United States is sliding backwards. We can do better. We must demand that our leaders do better.
Do not presume, well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed, to criticize the poor
Injustice boils in men's hearts as does steel in its cauldron, ready to pour forth, white hot, in the fullness of time.
When you look at the wealth gap - the racial wealth gap - all of that is very much connected to housing.
Their suffering is intense, widespread, expanding, systematic and socially sanctioned. And the victims are unable to organize in defence of their own interests.
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