Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men's minds.
Thurgood MarshallRead
A child born to a Black mother in a state like Mississippi... has exactly the same rights as a white baby born to the wealthiest person in the United States. It's not true, but I challenge anyone to say it is not a goal worth working for.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the ideal of equal rights for all children, regardless of race or socioeconomic status, while acknowledging the current injustices.
Thurgood Marshall's quote highlights the disparity in rights and opportunities between children born to different racial and economic backgrounds in America. He acknowledges the harsh reality that a Black child born in Mississippi does not possess the same rights as a white child from a wealthy family, yet he encourages the pursuit of equality as a noble goal worth striving for. This statement serves as both a critique of systemic inequities and an inspirational call to action for societal change.
Themes
EqualityRightsJusticeOpportunityRace
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a discussion about civil rights during a community meeting.
More from Thurgood Marshall
All quotes βThe United States has been called the melting pot of the world. But it seems to me that the colored man either missed getting into the pot or he got melted down.
Thurgood MarshallRead
I cannot accept this invitation [to celebrate the bicentenial of the Constitution], for I do not believe that the meaning of the Constitution was forever 'fixed' at the Philadelphia Convention... To the contrary, the government they devised was defective from the start. [Progressive]
Thurgood MarshallRead
When in Gregg v. Georgia the Supreme Court gave its seal of approval to capital punishment, this endorsement was premised on the promise that capital punishment would be administered with fairness and justice. Instead, the promise has become a cruel and empty mockery. If not remedied, the scandalous state of our present system of capital punishment will cast a pall of shame over our society for years to come. We cannot let it continue.
Thurgood MarshallRead
If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a state has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his house, what books he may read or what films he may watch.
Thurgood MarshallRead
In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.
Thurgood MarshallRead
Similar quotes
In sum, the truth is that we luxuriate in the comfortable assertion that women enjoy equality. We have salved our consciences by eliminating the more obvious discriminations like unequal rates of pay for work of equal value. But, in fact, we have not eliminated the inheritance of the millennia that women are lesser beings, an inheritance which still manifests itself in a whole range of prejudice and other forms of discrimination.
Bob HawkeRead
In addition to being an economic security issue, the failure to pay women a salary that's equal to men for equal work is also a women's health issue. The fact is that the salary women are paid directly impacts the type of health care services they are able to access for both themselves and their families.
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My feeling is, having lived in different classes, that people want equality of opportunity... that's the thing that makes me despair: the idea that people aren't given equality of opportunity.
Zadie SmithRead
If a man can coach a female, why can't a female coach a male? When I was looking for a coach, the gender of the coach never occurred to me. It was about who I thought was good and who I could get along with and listen to.
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On the road to equality there is no better place for blacks to detour around American values than in forgoing its example in the treatment of its women and the organization of its family.
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The more equality women have, the fairer, more civilized and tolerant society will be. Sexual equality is a lot more effective against terrorism than military strength.
Jose Luis Rodriguez ZapateroRead