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FOIA Number: 2006-0462-F
FOIA
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·administrative marker by the William J. Clinton
Presidential Library Staff.
Collection/Record Group:
Clinton Presidential Records
Subgroup/Office of Origin:
Speechwriting
Series/Staff Member:
Terry Edmonds
Subseries:
OA/ID Number:
10981
FolderiD:
Folder Title:·
10116/95 Liz Carpenter Lecture Austin, TX [1]
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�Terry Edmonds, Speechwriting
Office# 192
BOX2
Liz Carpenter Lecture
CBC Dinner
Church Arson Prev. Act
Church Burnings - Prayer Breakfast
Church Burnings - White House
Church Burning Task Force
Church of God in Christ
CIA Introducing Crackcocaine to Black America
Civility
C/G Fundraiser - Arkansas
Cmnty Anti-Drug Coalition
Commencement Speeches
U.S. Conf. ofMayors
CBCF
List of Crime Speeches
Dallas Cowboys visit WH
D.A.V,
DNC Presidential Gala
DNC Reception and Dinner
Democratic National Convention
�--------------------------
-
10/16/95 3:00 A.M.
PRESIDENT WILLIAM J. CLINTON
REMARKS FOR THE LIZ CARPENTER LECTURE
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
OCTOBER 16, 1995
�Acknowledgments: [The First Lady spoke in 1993];
President Robert Berdahl ["Bird-All"]; Bernard
Rappaport [chairman, Board of Regents]; Nicole Bell
[student; introduces you]; Chancellor Bill Cunningham;
Barbara Jordan; Lucy Johnson; Congressman Pickle;
Sheldon Eklund [Dean of Liberal Arts]; Jane Cummings
[Chairperson of Students Distinguished Lectures]; Gary
Mauro; and, most of all, Liz Carpenter.
Liz said she has a file longer than War and Peace of
letters inviting me to come here. [This plays off joke in
Liz Carpenter's intro.] Liz: We all know that you didn't
need anything that long. The minute she asked me to
come to Austin, I knew I was going.
2
�After all, anyone whose life has been touched by this
\
remarkable woman -- a woman who worked side-byside with President and Mrs. Johnson, who mastered the
White House press corps, who reared not only her own
children, but, at the age of 70, her late brother's teenage
children, too -- knows there is one word that is simply
not in her vocabulary, and that word is "no."
My dear friends and fellow Americans, in recent weeks
every one of us has been made aware of a simple truth.
3
�We have been made aware of it so clearly that there is
no excuse to avert our eyes: white Americans and black
Americans often see the same world in drastically
different ways. The question today is equally clear:
What do we do now? This is not about any one recent
event or episode that has captured the national attention.
It is about the rift that we see before us.
While many hearts are sore, let us take a moment to
give thanks for the fact that we have made progress up
that mountain Dr. King described so eloquently in 1968.
I have seen this in my own life.
4
�------------~--------------·-----~
I remember a time not so long ago when our
neighborhoods, businesses, schools, jobs, and voting
booths were closed to many Americans simply because
of the color of their skin. I remember a time when there
'
were hardly any people of color serving in our state
houses, our school boards, our city halls, and even our
Congress. No one can deny that we have come a long
way.
Almost 30 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King marched
with sanitation workers in Memphis. They marched for
dignity, equality, and economic justice. The placards
they carried read, simply: "I am a man."
5
�- - - - -
-----
The throngs of men marching in Washington today -almost all of them are doing so for the same reason. For
them, it's about pride. It's about respect. It's about
taking responsibility for themselves, their families, and
their communities. It's about saying "no" to crime, and
drugs, and violence. It's about standing up for
atonement and reconciliation. It's about insisting others
do the same, and offering to help them. It's about the
frank admission that unless black men shoulder that
load, no one else can help them -- their brothers, their
sisters, their children -- escape the hard, bleak lives that
too many of them still face.
6
�It is my job to support efforts that lift us up. But it is
also my job to speak out against anyone who would
attempt to rally people around the flag of hate. One
million men are right to be standing up for personal
responsibility. But one million men do not make right
one man's message of malice and division.
No good house was ever built on a bad foundation.
Nothing good ever came of hate. So let us pray today
that all who march and all who speak will stand for
atonement, for reconciliation, for progress. Let us pray
that those who would lead will give voice to the true
message of those who march.
7
�Today, we face a choice. One way leads to further
separation and bitterness and more lost futures. The
other way -- the path of courage and wisdom -- leads
to unity, reconciliation, and a rich opportunity for all to
make the most of the lives God has given them.
I must tell you today that the racial debate need not be a
setback for us, but a great opportunity -- one that we
cannot let pass us by.
Some of our best moments as Americans have come
when we have had the courage to face the truth about
those times when we have failed to live up to our own
best ideals.
8
-------------
-------------
_ _ _ _ _ _____.
�----
-----------------------
That act is not one of weakness, but of proud American
optimism.
These confrontations with the truth bring about what
historians call "open moments."
At such turning points, Americans moved against
slavery, struggling away from the horror that one
American could hold another captive; they moved to
embrace women's suffrage; they moved to guarantee
basic legal rights to Americans without regard to race -under the leadership of the great· President in whose
school we gather today.
9
�These moments left us with a legacy of greatness
because we looked in the national mirror and were
brave enough to say: "This is not who we are. We are
better than that."
As Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator, reminded
us, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." At
every moment when our divisions have threatened to
bring the house down, we have moved together to shore
it up. My fellow Americans, our house is the greatest
democracy in all history, and with all its racial and
ethnic diversity it has beaten the odds of history. But
divisions remain. And we have work to do.
10
�The two worlds we see now each contain both truth and
distortion. Both black and white Americans must face
this, for honesty is the only gateway to the many acts of
reconciliation that will unite both these worlds at last
into one America.
White people must understand and acknowledge the
roots of black pain. African Americans have indeed
lived long with a justice system that in too many cases
has been less than just. The record of abuses extends
from lynchings and trumped-up charges to false arrests
and police brutality. The tragedies of Emmett Till and
Rodney King are bloody markers on that road.
11
�Still today, too many of our police officers play by the
rules of the bad old days. It is beyond wrong when lawabiding black parents have to tell their law-abiding
children to fear the police whose salaries are paid by
their taxes.
Blacks are right to think something is terribly wrong
when African American men are many times more
likely to be the victims of homicide than any other
group in this country ... when there are more African
American men in our prisons than in our colleges.
When one in three African American men in their
twenties were either in jail, on parole, or otherwise
under the supervision of the criminal justice system.
12
�Nearly one in three. I would like every white person in
'
America to take a moment to think how he or she
would feel if one in three white men were in a similar
position.
Second, and even more fundamental: there is an
unacceptable economic disparity between blacks and
whites. It is fashionable to talk about African Americans
as if they were part of a protected class. Many whites
think blacks are getting more than their fair share in
terms of jobs and promotions. The truth is African
Americans still make an average of 60 percent less than
white people. More than half of African American
children live in poverty.
13
�On the other hand, blacks must understand and
acknowledge the roots of white fear. There is a
legitimate fear of the violence that is too prevalent in
urban areas.
It is not racist for any parent to pull his or her child
close when walking through a high-crime neighborhood.
It is not racist to reject the few black leaders who -- in
contrast to the vast majority of African Americans -would to play on hatred and venom to do the work of
inspiration.
14
�The great potential of this march later today is that
whites will see blacks embracing their fears and their
convictions; coming to realize that without change
within the black community and within individuals
nothing good can be done. Whites are right to say they
don't understand why people put up with gangs on the
comer or in their projects, or with drugs sold in the
schools, or with thugs shooting kids with assault
weapons while they're standing innocently at bus stops,
or with the culture of welfare dependency.
This march will remind white people that most black
people share their values.
15
�Most black Americans work hard, care for their
families, pay their taxes, and obey the law -- often
under circumstances which are far more difficult than
those their white counterparts face.
And white people often forget that they have the same
problems that blacks do. Crime, drug use, domestic
abuse, and teenage pregnancy are too prevalent among
whites as well. They have a common stake in solving
these common problems.
16
�- - - - - - - - - - - -
It is not an option for white Americans to do what white
Americans too often do -- to move further away from
the problems and support policies that will only make
them worse.
Finally, there is the fear that both sides will not be able
to see each other as more than enemy faces, all of
whom carry a sliver of bigotry in their hearts.
Differences of opinion rooted in our different
experiences are healthy for democracies. But differences
so great, so rooted in race, threaten the house divided
Mr. Lincoln gave his life to save.
17
�-
----------
- - - - - - - - - - - -
As Dr. King said, "We must learn to live together as
brothers, or [we will] perish as fools."
But recognizing one another's real grievances is not
enough. We must also take responsibility for ourselves.
No one is entitled to complain about grievances without
first cleaning out their own house. America: we must
clean our house of racism.
To our white citizens I say: clean your house of racism.
Too many destructive ideas are gaining currency in our
midst. The taped voice of one policeman should fill you
with outrage.
18
�-----------------
--
- -
Stand up and be heard denouncing this sort of
rhetoric ... so loudly and clearly that your black fellow
citizens can hear you. White racism may be black
people's burden, but it is white people's problem.
Again, I say: clean your house.
To our black citizens: I honor the presence of hundreds
of thousands of men in Washington today committed to
atonement and personal responsibility. I call on you to
build on this effort to share equally in the promise of
America. But to do that you must also clean your own
house of racism. Again, I say: clean your house.
19
�There are too many today -- white and black, on the left
and the right, on street comers and on the radio waves - who for their own purposes sow division. To them I
say: No more. We are one family. One family. Not just
neighbors, not fellow citizens; not separate camps; but
family: white, black, Latino, men, women, able-bodied,
disabled. When a child is gunned down on a street in
the Bronx, no matter what our race, he is our child.
When a woman dies from a beating, no matter what our
race, she is our sister. Every time drugs course through
the veins of another child, it clouds the future of all of
our children.
20
�We are one nation. One family -- indivisible. Divorce or
separation are simply not an option.
Here, in 1995, we dare not tolerate the existence of two
Americas. Under my watch, I will do everything in my
power to see that soon there is only one. One America
under the rule of law; one justice system; one social
contract; equal opportunity; one America.
How do we get there?
21
�First, I want every governor, every mayor, every
business leader, every church leader, every civic leader,
every union steward, in every workplace and meeting
place across America, to take personal responsibility for
reaching out to people of different races, and taking
time to sit down and talk through this issue; to speak
honestly and frankly -- and then to listen quietly with an
open mind and an open heart.
I am convinced, based on a lifetime of friendships and
common endeavors with people of different races, that
the American people will find out that they have a lot
more in common than they think they do.
22
�And I believe, in spite of all of our problems, we will
work this out. [Lend-Lease quote.]
Second, we have to defend real opportunity. I'm not
talking about opportunity for black Americans or white
Americans. I am talking about opportunity for all
Americans.
We have to truly reward work and family. That's why I
supported the Family and Medical Leave Act. That's
why I am fighting to increase the minimum wage that
holds families together. And that is why I will defend
tax relief that helps lift 14 million low-income, working
Americans and their children out of poverty.
23
�Yes, a disproportionate percentage of them are blacks
and Hispanics -- but most of them are still white
Americans.
We also have to realize that there are some areas of our
country that are more prone to the problems we all
deplore -- crime, and drugs, and violence, and out-ofwedlock pregnancies, and welfare dependency -because they don't have any economic opportunity. And
that's why I worked so hard to create empowerment
zones -- in New York City, and Detroit, and other cities,
but also in South Texas. So that when the people in
these places assume responsibility, they will have
something to say "yes" to.
24
�And perhaps the most important opportunity is this -- a
good education. That's what Lyndon Johnson worked
for. And it still matters.
But let's remember -- the people marching in
Washington today are right. There will be no progress
in the absence of real responsibility on the part of all
Americans.
Nowhere is that responsibility more important than in
our efforts to promote public safety and preserve the
rule of law. Citizens must respect the law and those who
enforce it.
25
�Police have a life and death responsibility never to
abuse the power granted them by the people.
We know what works in fighting crime: community
policing. We've seen it working all across this country
where the violent crime rate is going down.
But for it to work, police departments must be
scrupulously fair and engaged with-- not estranged
from -- the communities they serve. I am committed to
making community policing a reality across this nation.
We must crush the remnants of racism in our police
departments and throughout our criminal justice system.
26
�The police have the sacred duty to protect the
community fairly -- but the citizens of our communities
have the sacred responsibility to respect the police. Not
only to respect the police, but to inspire that respect in
young people and then to support them and work with
them so that they can succeed.
Let's not forget, most police officers are honest people
who love the law and put their lives on the line -- so
that citizens, no matter what their race or income, can
live in decency.
Finally, I want to speak for a moment about a crucial
area of responsibility: the responsibility of fatherhood.
27
�--------
--------------
I want to speak to all Americans about this issue.
The single biggest social problem our society faces is
the growing absence of fathers in our nation's homes.
One child in four grows up in a fatherless horne -without a father to help guide the child, without a father
to care for the child, without a father to teach boys to
be men and to teach girls to expect respect from men.
This is not a black problem or a Latino problem or a
white problem, it is an American problem.
I know this from my own life.
My father died before I was born.
28
�My stepfather's battle with alcohol kept him from being
the father he could have been.
But as an adult, a father in tum, I committed myself to
doing what countless men do every day.
Parenting is never easy. I know what it's like to stay up
until dawn rocking a sick child. I know what it's like to
watch my child go out to play -- a child whom I would
defend with my life -- and know that there may be
danger down the street. Every parent makes mistakes.
But the point is to stay there for your child day after
day. Building a family is the hardest job a man can do.
But it is also the most important.
29
�And let me say that we can only build strong families
when men and women respect each other in partnership.
That means men must move as much into the
homeplace as women have moved into the workplace.
And it also means that we must end domestic violence
against women and children. Men must pledge never,
never to raise their hand against a woman.
So today, I honor the black men marching in
Washington to demonstrate their commitment to
themselves, their families, and their communities.
30
�---
-
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I honor the millions of men in America -- the majority
of men of every color who without fanfare or
recognition do what it takes to be good fathers to their
children.
I challenge all men, wherever you are, to do the same.
I say to those who are neglecting their children: It's not
too late. Your child needs you. It's not too late.
I say to those men who only send money to support
their kids:· Keep sending those checks.
31
�- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Your children count on them. We' 11 enforce the law and
catch you if you stop. But your ·money is no
replacement for your guiding, your caring, and for your
loving your child.
And I say to those men who go .home every night and
love and care for their children.
I say to them as a former fatherless child, as a father
myself, and as the President of
a country that needs
you: Thank you and God bless you.
So many of us ask ourselves: Where can we even begin
-- those of us who want to stand up against racism?
32
�We can begin by each of us seeking out people in our
workplaces, in our communities, in neighborhoods
across town, in places of worship -- to actually sit down
and have honest conversations. Conversations where we
have the discipline not only to speak openly, but also to
listen, to understand how other people view the world.
We can do this. This is a very great country. We have
the world's strongest economy, and it's on the move.
But our success as a nation is not measured solely by
the size of our GNP. This march in Washington today is
a reflection of something deeper and stronger that is
already running through our country.
33
�We are reasserting our commitment to the bedrock
values that made our country great and make life worth
living.
The great divides of the past called for and were
addressed by legal and legislative changes. Leaders like
Lyndon Johnson, for example, could enact the great
civil rights laws.
But we are dealing today with problems that grow out
of the way we look at the world with our minds and the
way we feel about the world with our hearts. And
therefore, leaders and legislation may be important. But
this work that has to be done by every American.
34
�- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
This is the ultimate test of our democracy. For today,
the house divided resides in the minds and hearts of the
American people. And it must be united in the minds
and hearts of the American people.
Yes, there are those who would poison our progress by
selling short the great character of the American people.
But they will not win the day. We will win the day.
And, with your help, that day will come soon. I will do
my part. Now you do yours.
Thank you and God bless America.
35
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Terry Edmonds
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Speechwriting
James (Terry) Edmonds
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1995-2001
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a href="http://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/36090" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7763294" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Identifier
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2006-0462-F
Description
An account of the resource
Terry Edmonds worked as a speechwriter from 1995-2001. He became the Assistant to the President and Director of Speechwriting in 1999. His speechwriting focused on domestic topics such as race relations, veterans issues, education, paralympics, gun control, youth, and senior citizens. He also contributed to the President’s State of the Union speeches, radio addresses, commencement speeches, and special dinners and events. The records include speeches, letters, memorandum, schedules, reports, articles, and clippings.
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
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635 folders in 52 boxes
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Dublin Core
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Title
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10/16/95 Liz Carpenter Lecture Austin, TX [1]
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Office of Speechwriting
James (Terry) Edmonds
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
2006-0462-F
Is Part Of
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Box 12
<a href="http://www.clintonlibrary.gov/assets/Documents/Finding-Aids/2006/2006-0462-F.pdf" target="_blank">Collection Finding Aid</a>
<a href="https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7763294" target="_blank">National Archives Catalog Description</a>
Provenance
A statement of any changes in ownership and custody of the resource since its creation that are significant for its authenticity, integrity, and interpretation. The statement may include a description of any changes successive custodians made to the resource.
Clinton Presidential Records: White House Staff and Office Files
Publisher
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William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum
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Adobe Acrobat Document
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Reproduction-Reference
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12/9/2014
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42-t-7763294-20060462F-012-001-2014
7763294