The most presidential lorem ipsum in history.
We believe that everyone, everywhere should be loved, and given the chance to work, and raise a family. And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. "People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend's voice up into the rafters....And in that single note - hope! - I heard something else; at the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion's den, Ezekiel's field of dry bones. This is the hope of all humanity. So whatever we think of the past, we must not be prisoners of it. The third source of tension is our shared interest in the rights and responsibilities of nations on nuclear weapons.
Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation - not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy. It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. And then another one. And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need. And while America in the past has focused on oil and gas in this part of the world, we now seek a broader engagement.
While studying here, my father met my mother. John Kerry knows this. Not this time. Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations. I do so recognizing that change cannot happen overnight. This last point is important because there are some who advocate for democracy only when they are out of power; once in power, they are ruthless in suppressing the rights of others.
Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. But what we know - what we have seen - is that America can change. We see it in the history of Andalusia and Cordoba during the Inquisition. The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort - a sustained effort - to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings.
A belief that we're all connected as one people. A belief in things not seen. Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven't fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods - parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement - all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.
Thank you, and God bless America.