It’s a racial stalemate we’ve been stuck in for years. But it also means binding our particular grievances – for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs – to the larger aspirations of all Americans – the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. The first issue that we have to confront is violent extremism in all of its forms. The same is true for the astonishing progress within Muslim-majority countries from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai.
I’m talking about something more substantial. But we shouldn’t use our humility as an excuse for inaction. Legalized discrimination – where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments – meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk.
They saw that I knew the Scriptures and that many of the values I held and that propelled me in my work were values they shared. But the truth is, that isn’t all that I know of the man. Moreover, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam. This cycle of suspicion and discord must end. In ancient times and in our times, Muslim communities have been at the forefront of innovation and education.
If you don’t, you’ll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. As the Holy Koran tells us, “Be conscious of God and speak always the truth.” That is what I will try to do – to speak the truth as best I can, humbled by the task before us, and firm in my belief that the interests we share as human beings are far more powerful than the forces that drive us apart. Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation.
These people are a part of me. We need a President who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.
And when one of his chief advisors – the man who wrote his economic plan – was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a “mental recession,” and that we’ve become, and I quote, “a nation of whiners.” That is the spirit we need today.
I stand here today, grateful for the diversity of my heritage, aware that my parents’ dreams live on in my two precious daughters. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain. The Internet and television can bring knowledge and information, but also offensive sexuality and mindless violence.
I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. More of you have cars you can’t afford to drive, credit card bills you can’t afford to pay, and tuition that’s beyond your reach. And we will keep our promise to every young American – if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education. But what the people heard instead – people of every creed and color, from every walk of life – is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. They have affiliates in many countries and are trying to expand their reach.
In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships. But if we see this conflict only from one side or the other, then we will be blind to the truth: the only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security.
