Separation means separation, not something less. Jefferson’s metaphor in describing the relation between Church and State speaks of a “wall of separation,” not of a fine line easily overstepped. The public school is at once the symbol of our democracy and the most pervasive means for promoting our common destiny. In no activity of the State is it more vital to keep out divisive forces than in its schools, to avoid confusing, not to say fusing, what the Constitution sought to keep strictly apart.

Felix Frankfurter (1882–1965) American jurist, teacher; US Supreme Court Justice (1939–62)

McCollum v. Board of Education 333 U.S. 231 (1948) [concurring]
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