Second, since Brown, research and experience have demonstrated that to promote social cohesion in a diverse society such as the United States, it is important that students of all racial backgrounds attend schools that are racially and economically diverse. Students who attend racially diverse schools are less likely to develop prejudice or stereotypes against students or other racial groups, more likely to have friends and develop relationships across race and class lines, and more likely to live and work in integrated settings. In other words, integrated schools lead to integrated neighborhoods. The Draft Recommendation should note that in a racially and ethnically diverse nation such as the United States, the schools should also be racially and ethnically diverse. Third, education is not an abstract concept. It seeks to serve students and the societies where they live. Efforts to promote integration must take account of the identity, status and experience of the minority group. Suppression of identity cannot be a prerequisite to integration. Social cohesion requires recognition of identity along racial, religious, linguistic, and caste lines. The Draft Recommendation should indicate that efforts to promote integration and social cohesion should be conscious of and properly take account of race, language, immigration status, religion, caste and other factors that have underlied segregation. In addition, states must not prevent schools and communities from considering race, class and other factors in their desegregation strategies and efforts to promote diverse schools and communities. To realize the hope and promise of Brown – of a democracy that works for all schoolchildren, of a nation that recognizes education as the foundation of our citizenry and as the engine that prepares our children to live, work and play together in the future – the State must continue to support efforts to bring down the walls between communities.