The court decided that separating people by race wasn't fair, so they ended it. Professor Campbell nodded slowly. That's partially right. But I'm looking for the specific legal argument, the constitutional basis. Silence.
Khloe blinked. She wasn't used to being only partially right. Not in this room. Her cheeks flushed, fingers tightened around her cup. Then a hand went up in the back row.
Olivia, the legal team led by Thood Marshall argued that segregation violated the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment. Olivia said her voice was calm, steady. They used sociological evidence, the Kenneth Clark Dah study, to demonstrate that segregation caused psychological harm to black children. The court agreed unanimously. It wasn't just a moral decision.
It was a constitutional one. The room went still. Professor Campbell smiled, the kind professors saved for answers that genuinely impressed them. That is an excellent answer. Textbook level analysis.
Well done. 30 heads turned toward the back row. Some looked impressed. A few looked confused like they were noticing her for the first time. Kloe didn't turn around.
She could feel every pair of eyes shifting away from her. Her jaw locked. Her fingers curled around her cup so hard the plastic crackled. A vein pulsed at her temple. Her throne was cracking.
She couldn't let that stand. Chloe tilted her head. Spoke not to Olivia, not to the professor, but to the room. Loud enough for everyone. Casual enough to deny.
Well, I guess that's what happens when the school starts filling diversity quotas. Somebody's got to justify their spot, right? A little laugh, light, breezy, like it was nothing. But it was everything. Students shifted uncomfortably.
Nobody laughed. Nobody spoke up. Everyone knew who she meant. One black girl in the room, one person who just answered, but the sentence was crafted. Deniable.
If anyone called her on it, just a general comment about policy. That was Khloe's real talent. Cruelty with plausible deniability. Every insult wrapped in a joke. Every attack disguised as opinion.
Always enough to sting, never enough to punish. That was how she'd survived without a single mark on her record. Professor Campbell heard it. His mouth opened. Closed.