Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 2639, the Strength in Diversity Act. I thank Congresswoman Marcia Fudge and Chairman Bobby Scott for their leadership and for affording me the opportunity to speak today, and I am proud to support this important step toward addressing the legacy of segregation in America's schools. ``Segregation distorts the soul,'' Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in 1936 from a Birmingham jail. Yet 66 years after the Supreme Court unanimously held in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation of children in public schools is unconstitutional, segregation remains a reality for many of America's children. It is a persistent stain on the soul of our country. The Strength in Diversity Act incentivizes inclusive educational environments and promotes racial and socioeconomic diversity in schools as instrumental to the education and development of every single child. This act encourages school districts to study the effects of segregation, evaluate their current policies, and implement evidence- based solutions to deepen diversity in their schools through inclusive policies. We all wish that racism was a thing of the past. It is not. We must actively confront our Nation's sins, past and present. We must confront the fear and the hatred embedded in our institutions, embracing, once and for all, the strength of our diversity. America can do better for our children, and we must.…”