Until we get equality in education, we won't have an equal

“Until we get equality in education, we won't have an equal society.” Thus spoke Sonia Sotomayor, the first Latina justice of the United States Supreme Court, a woman whose life itself is proof of the power of education to lift the poor, the forgotten, and the marginalized into places of honor. Her words strike with the weight of history: for no nation can claim justice, no people can claim freedom, if the gates of learning remain closed to some while wide open to others. Equality in law, in wealth, in opportunity—all of these are but illusions if the foundation of equal education is denied.

The meaning of this saying is clear: society is a pyramid, and the stones at its base are laid in the schools. If some children are taught with care, with books, with teachers, while others are neglected, left in crumbling classrooms with no hope, then inequality is planted at the root. From such soil grow divisions of wealth, power, and privilege that no law can easily erase. Sotomayor reminds us that if we wish to see justice in the courts, fairness in the economy, and harmony in society, then we must first ensure justice in the classroom.

The ancients understood this truth. Plato, in his Republic, declared that the education of the young was the most sacred duty of the state, for in it the future is shaped. The Spartans, though harsh, ensured every citizen was trained from youth, for they knew the strength of the city lay in the equality of its upbringing. And in Athens, Pericles proclaimed that education was the soul of democracy, for without it, freedom would dissolve into chaos. Sotomayor’s words stand in this lineage, a modern echo of an ancient command: if society is to be equal, the schooling of its children must be equal first.

History offers vivid testimony. In the United States, Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 declared that separate schools for Black and white children were inherently unequal. Yet though the law struck down segregation, the struggle for true equality in education continues to this day. Poor communities still suffer from underfunded schools, while the wealthy enjoy resources beyond measure. The case shows us that laws may proclaim equality, but until classrooms embody it, society itself will remain divided. Sotomayor, as a daughter of the Bronx who rose through the ladder of education, speaks with the authority of one who has lived this truth.

Consider also the story of Malala Yousafzai, who, like Sotomayor, fought for equality in education from another corner of the world. Denied schooling by tyranny, she nearly gave her life for the right to learn. Her victory is proof that education is the battlefield upon which the wars of equality are fought. For when one child is denied learning because of poverty, gender, or race, the whole of humanity is diminished. But when that child is given the tools of knowledge, the whole of society is uplifted.

The lesson for us is urgent: if you wish to build a just world, begin with schools. Support the education of the poor as though they were your own children. Demand that teachers be honored, classrooms strengthened, and resources shared. Do not accept excuses that leave some children behind, for in abandoning them, you abandon justice itself. Remember always that a society that tolerates inequality in its schools is sowing the seeds of division in its future.

So let Sotomayor’s words resound as a commandment to this generation and to all to come: “Until we get equality in education, we won’t have an equal society.” Let them stir us to action, to demand more, to give more, to lift every child into the light of learning. For only when the classroom is equal will the courtroom be equal. Only when the school is just will the city be just. And only when every child’s mind is nourished will society itself stand truly free.