NAACP’s 100th anniversary and the 45th anniversary of the Civil
Rights Act. In his first speech directly addressing race and
discrimination as President, Obama acknowledged the accomplishments
and progress made in the past century and the work still to be
done.
“And yet, even as we celebrate the remarkable achievements of
the past one hundred years; even as we inherit extraordinary
progress that cannot be denied; even as we marvel at the courage
and determination of so many plain folks — we know that too many
barriers still remain.”
Obama utilized his speech to touch on these barriers: the impact of
the economy and unemployment, access to healthcare, and the value
of education. Then President Obama highlighted the importance of
legal and social equality for all, specifically lifting up women,
Latinos, Muslims, and the gay community.
“The first thing we need to do is make real the words of your
charter and eradicate prejudice, bigotry, and discrimination among
citizens of the United States. I understand there may be a
temptation among some to think that discrimination is no longer a
problem in 2009. And I believe that overall, there’s probably never
been less discrimination in America than there is today.
But make no mistake: the pain of discrimination is still felt in
America. By African-American women paid less for doing the same
work as colleagues of a different color and gender. By Latinos made
to feel unwelcome in their own country. By Muslim Americans viewed
with suspicion for simply kneeling down to pray. By our gay
brothers and sisters, still taunted, still attacked, still denied
their rights.
On the 45th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, discrimination
must not stand. Not on account of color or gender; how you worship
or who you love. Prejudice has no place in the United States of
America.”
To watch the entirety of this momentous speech, click the image
below.
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To read President Obama’s speech click the link for more below.
Remarks of President Barack Obama – As Prepared for Delivery
NAACP Centennial
New York, New York
July 16, 2009
It is an honor to be here, in the city where the NAACP was formed,
to mark its centennial. What we celebrate tonight is not simply the
journey the NAACP has traveled, but the journey that we, as
Americans, have traveled over the past one hundred years.
It is a journey that takes us back to a time before most of us were
born, long before the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act, and
Brown v. Board of Education; back to an America just a generation
past slavery. It was a time when Jim Crow was a way of life; when
lynchings were all too common; and when race riots were shaking
cities across a segregated land.
It was in this America where an Atlanta scholar named W.E.B. Du
Bois, a man of towering intellect and a fierce passion for justice,
sparked what became known as the Niagara movement; where reformers
united, not by color but cause; and where an association was born
that would, as its charter says, promote equality and eradicate
prejudice among citizens of the United States.
From the beginning, Du Bois understood how change would come – just
as King and all the civil rights giants did later. They understood
that unjust laws needed to be overturned; that legislation needed
to be passed; and that Presidents needed to be pressured into
action. They knew that the stain of slavery and the sin of
segregation had to be lifted in the courtroom and in the
legislature.
But they also knew that here, in America, change would have to come
from the people. It would come from people protesting lynching,
rallying against violence, and walking instead of taking the bus.
It would come from men and women – of every age and faith, race and
region – taking Greyhounds on Freedom Rides; taking seats at
Greensboro lunch counters; and registering voters in rural
Mississippi, knowing they would be harassed, knowing they would be
beaten, knowing that they might never return.
Because of what they did, we are a more perfect union. Because Jim
Crow laws were overturned, black CEOs today run Fortune 500
companies. Because civil rights laws were passed, black mayors,
governors, and Members of Congress serve in places where they might
once have been unable to vote. And because ordinary people made the
civil rights movement their own, I made a trip to Springfield a
couple years ago – where Lincoln once lived, and race riots once
raged – and began the journey that has led me here tonight as the
44th President of the United States of America.
And yet, even as we celebrate the remarkable achievements of the
past one hundred years; even as we inherit extraordinary progress
that cannot be denied; even as we marvel at the courage and
determination of so many plain folks – we know that too many
barriers still remain.
We know that even as our economic crisis batters Americans of all
races, African Americans are out of work more than just about
anyone else – a gap that’s widening here in New York City, as
detailed in a report this week by Comptroller Bill Thompson.
We know that even as spiraling health care costs crush families of
all races, African Americans are more likely to suffer from a host
of diseases but less likely to own health insurance than just about
anyone else.
We know that even as we imprison more people of all races than any
nation in the world, an African-American child is roughly five
times as likely as a white child to see the inside of a jail.
And we know that even as the scourge of HIV/AIDS devastates nations
abroad, particularly in Africa, it is devastating the
African-American community here at home with disproportionate
force.
These are some of the barriers of our time. They’re very different
from the barriers faced by earlier generations. They’re very
different from the ones faced when fire hoses and dogs were being
turned on young marchers; when Charles Hamilton Houston and a group
of young Howard lawyers were dismantling segregation.
But what is required to overcome today’s barriers is the same as
was needed then. The same commitment. The same sense of urgency.
The same sense of sacrifice. The same willingness to do our part
for ourselves and one another that has always defined America at
its best.
The question, then, is where do we direct our efforts? What steps
do we take to overcome these barriers? How do we move forward in
the next one hundred years?
The first thing we need to do is make real the words of your
charter and eradicate prejudice, bigotry, and discrimination among
citizens of the United States. I understand there may be a
temptation among some to think that discrimination is no longer a
problem in 2009. And I believe that overall, there’s probably never
been less discrimination in America than there is today.
But make no mistake: the pain of discrimination is still felt in
America. By African-American women paid less for doing the same
work as colleagues of a different color and gender. By Latinos made
to feel unwelcome in their own country. By Muslim Americans viewed
with suspicion for simply kneeling down to pray. By our gay
brothers and sisters, still taunted, still attacked, still denied
their rights.
On the 45th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, discrimination
must not stand. Not on account of color or gender; how you worship
or who you love. Prejudice has no place in the United States of
America.
But we also know that prejudice and discrimination are not even the
steepest barriers to opportunity today. The most difficult barriers
include structural inequalities that our nation’s legacy of
discrimination has left behind; inequalities still plaguing too
many communities and too often the object of national neglect.
These are barriers we are beginning to tear down by rewarding work
with an expanded tax credit; making housing more affordable; and
giving ex-offenders a second chance. These are barriers that we are
targeting through our White House Office on Urban Affairs, and
through Promise Neighborhoods that build on Geoffrey Canada’s
success with the Harlem Children’s Zone; and that foster a
comprehensive approach to ending poverty by putting all children on
a pathway to college, and giving them the schooling and support to
get there.
But our task of reducing these structural inequalities has been
made more difficult by the state, and structure, of the broader
economy; an economy fueled by a cycle of boom and bust; an economy
built not on a rock, but sand. That is why my administration is
working so hard not only to create and save jobs in the short-term,
not only to extend unemployment insurance and help for people who
have lost their health care, not only to stem this immediate
economic crisis, but to lay a new foundation for growth and
prosperity that will put opportunity within reach not just for
African Americans, but for all Americans.
One pillar of this new foundation is health insurance reform that
cuts costs, makes quality health coverage affordable for all, and
closes health care disparities in the process. Another pillar is
energy reform that makes clean energy profitable, freeing America
from the grip of foreign oil, putting people to work upgrading
low-income homes, and creating jobs that cannot be outsourced. And
another pillar is financial reform with consumer protections to
crack down on mortgage fraud and stop predatory lenders from
targeting our poor communities.
All these things will make America stronger and more competitive.
They will drive innovation, create jobs, and provide families more
security. Still, even if we do it all, the African-American
community will fall behind in the United States and the United
States will fall behind in the world unless we do a far better job
than we have been doing of educating our sons and daughters. In the
21st century – when so many jobs will require a bachelor’s degree
or more, when countries that out-educate us today will outcompete
us tomorrow – a world-class education is a prerequisite for
success.
You know what I’m talking about. There’s a reason the story of the
civil rights movement was written in our schools. There’s a reason
Thurgood Marshall took up the cause of Linda Brown. There’s a
reason the Little Rock Nine defied a governor and a mob. It’s
because there is no stronger weapon against inequality and no
better path to opportunity than an education that can unlock a
child’s God-given potential.
Yet, more than a half century after Brown v. Board of Education,
the dream of a world-class education is still being deferred all
across this country. African-American students are lagging behind
white classmates in reading and math – an achievement gap that is
growing in states that once led the way on civil rights. Over half
of all African-American students are dropping out of school in some
places. There are overcrowded classrooms, crumbling schools, and
corridors of shame in America filled with poor children – black,
brown, and white alike.
The state of our schools is not an African-American problem; it’s
an American problem. And if Al Sharpton, Mike Bloomberg, and Newt
Gingrich can agree that we need to solve it, then all of us can
agree on that. All of us can agree that we need to offer every
child in this country the best education the world has to offer
from the cradle through a career.
That is our responsibility as the United States of America. And we,
all of us in government, are working to do our part by not only
offering more resources, but demanding more reform.
When it comes to higher education, we are making college and
advanced training more affordable, and strengthening community
colleges that are a gateway to so many with an initiative that will
prepare students not only to earn a degree but find a job when they
graduate; an initiative that will help us meet the goal I have set
of leading the world in college degrees by 2020.
We are creating a Race to the Top Fund that will reward states and
public school districts that adopt 21st century standards and
assessments. And we are creating incentives for states to promote
excellent teachers and replace bad ones – because the job of a
teacher is too important for us to accept anything but the
best.
We should also explore innovative approaches being pursued here in
New York City; innovations like Bard High School Early College and
Medgar Evers College Preparatory School that are challenging
students to complete high school and earn a free associate’s degree
or college credit in just four years.
And we should raise the bar when it comes to early learning
programs. Today, some early learning programs are excellent. Some
are mediocre. And some are wasting what studies show are – by far –
a child’s most formative years.
That’s why I have issued a challenge to America’s governors: if you
match the success of states like Pennsylvania and develop an
effective model for early learning; if you focus reform on
standards and results in early learning programs; if you
demonstrate how you will prepare the lowest income children to meet
the highest standards of success – you can compete for an Early
Learning Challenge Grant that will help prepare all our children to
enter kindergarten ready to learn.
So, these are some of the laws we are passing. These are some of
the policies we are enacting. These are some of the ways we are
doing our part in government to overcome the inequities,
injustices, and barriers that exist in our country.
But all these innovative programs and expanded opportunities will
not, in and of themselves, make a difference if each of us, as
parents and as community leaders, fail to do our part by
encouraging excellence in our children. Government programs alone
won’t get our children to the Promised Land. We need a new mindset,
a new set of attitudes – because one of the most durable and
destructive legacies of discrimination is the way that we have
internalized a sense of limitation; how so many in our community
have come to expect so little of ourselves.
We have to say to our children, Yes, if you’re African American,
the odds of growing up amid crime and gangs are higher. Yes, if you
live in a poor neighborhood, you will face challenges that someone
in a wealthy suburb does not. But that’s not a reason to get bad
grades, that’s not a reason to cut class, that’s not a reason to
give up on your education and drop out of school. No one has
written your destiny for you. Your destiny is in your hands – and
don’t you forget that.
To parents, we can’t tell our kids to do well in school and fail to
support them when they get home. For our kids to excel, we must
accept our own responsibilities. That means putting away the Xbox
and putting our kids to bed at a reasonable hour. It means
attending those parent-teacher conferences, reading to our kids,
and helping them with their homework.
And it means we need to be there for our neighbor’s son or
daughter, and return to the day when we parents let each other know
if we saw a child acting up. That’s the meaning of community.
That’s how we can reclaim the strength, the determination, the
hopefulness that helped us come as far as we already have.
It also means pushing our kids to set their sights higher. They
might think they’ve got a pretty good jump shot or a pretty good
flow, but our kids can’t all aspire to be the next LeBron or Lil
Wayne. I want them aspiring to be scientists and engineers, doctors
and teachers, not just ballers and rappers. I want them aspiring to
be a Supreme Court Justice. I want them aspiring to be President of
the United States.
So, yes, government must be a force for opportunity. Yes,
government must be a force for equality. But ultimately, if we are
to be true to our past, then we also have to seize our own destiny,
each and every day.
That is what the NAACP is all about. The NAACP was not founded in
search of a handout. The NAACP was not founded in search of favors.
The NAACP was founded on a firm notion of justice; to cash the
promissory note of America that says all our children, all God’s
children, deserve a fair chance in the race of life.
It is a simple dream, and yet one that has been denied – one still
being denied – to so many Americans. It’s a painful thing, seeing
that dream denied. I remember visiting a Chicago school in a rough
neighborhood as a community organizer, and thinking how remarkable
it was that all of these children seemed so full of hope, despite
being born into poverty, despite being delivered into addiction,
despite all the obstacles they were already facing.
And I remember the principal of the school telling me that soon all
of that would begin to change; that soon, the laughter in their
eyes would begin to fade; that soon, something would shut off
inside, as it sunk in that their hopes would not come to pass – not
because they weren’t smart enough, not because they weren’t
talented enough, but because, by accident of birth, they didn’t
have a fair chance in life.
So, I know what can happen to a child who doesn’t have that chance.
But I also know what can happen to a child who does. I was raised
by a single mother. I don’t come from a lot of wealth. I got into
my share of trouble as a kid. My life could easily have taken a
turn for the worse. But that mother of mine gave me love; she
pushed me, and cared about my education; she took no lip and taught
me right from wrong. Because of her, I had a chance to make the
most of my abilities. I had the chance to make the most of my
opportunities. I had the chance to make the most of life.
The same story holds for Michelle. The same story holds for so many
of you. And I want all the other Barack Obamas out there, and all
the other Michelle Obamas out there, to have that same chance – the
chance that my mother gave me; that my education gave me; that the
United States of America gave me. That is how our union will be
perfected and our economy rebuilt. That is how America will move
forward in the next one hundred years.
And we will move forward. This I know – for I know how far we have
come. Last week, in Ghana, Michelle and I took Malia and Sasha to
Cape Coast Castle, where captives were once imprisoned before being
auctioned; where, across an ocean, so much of the African-American
experience began. There, reflecting on the dungeon beneath the
castle church, I was reminded of all the pain and all the
hardships, all the injustices and all the indignities on the voyage
from slavery to freedom.
But I was also reminded of something else. I was reminded that no
matter how bitter the rod or how stony the road, we have
persevered. We have not faltered, nor have we grown weary. As
Americans, we have demanded, strived for, and shaped a better
destiny.
That is what we are called to do once more. It will not be easy. It
will take time. Doubts may rise and hopes recede.
But if John Lewis could brave Billy clubs to cross a bridge, then I
know young people today can do their part to lift up our
communities.
If Emmet Till’s uncle Mose Wright could summon the courage to
testify against the men who killed his nephew, I know we can be
better fathers and brothers, mothers and sisters in our own
families.
If three civil rights workers in Mississippi – black and white,
Christian and Jew, city-born and country-bred – could lay down
their lives in freedom’s cause, I know we can come together to face
down the challenges of our own time. We can fix our schools, heal
our sick, and rescue our youth from violence and despair.
One hundred years from now, on the 200th anniversary of the NAACP,
let it be said that this generation did its part; that we too ran
the race; that full of the faith that our dark past has taught us,
full of the hope that the present has brought us, we faced, in our
own lives and all across this nation, the rising sun of a new day
begun. Thank you, God bless you, and may God bless the United
States of America.