Talking Points #7

"One More River to Cross"
Charles Lawerence

1."Segregation violates the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment not because there is no rational relationship between the classification and the purpose-it is a supremely rational system-but because its purpose is illegitimate."

2."Once it is understood that the injury results from the existence of the label of inferiority, it becomes clear that the cure must involve the removal of that label. The mere placement of black and white children in the same school does not remove the brand imprinted by years of segregation."

3."Perhaps the most detrimental effect of the court's refusal to acknowledge the true nature and scope of the institution of segregation has been the resulting failure of the judiciary, and ultimately the public at large, to recognize a constitutional right to the affirmative destruction of that institution."