The most presidential lorem ipsum in history.
If there is a child on the south side of Chicago who can't read, that matters to me, even if it's not my child. For the men and women of Reverend Wright's generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years.
We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America. That's not what I'm talking about. But it also comes from my own American story. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today's black and white students. 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. And it is no coincidence that countries where women are well-educated are far more likely to be prosperous.
Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. There is one story in particularly that I'd like to leave you with today - a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back." So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace, and who promote conflict rather than the cooperation that can help all of our people achieve justice and prosperity. Likewise, it is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practicing religion as they see fit - for instance, by dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear. On science and technology, we will launch a new fund to support technological development in Muslim-majority countries, and to help transfer ideas to the marketplace so they can create jobs.
Because the Iraq war is not just a security problem, it's a moral problem. We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. For decades, there has been a stalemate: two peoples with legitimate aspirations, each with a painful history that makes compromise elusive.
No, the word is very near. And if we can do that - if we can embrace a common destiny - then I believe we'll not just help bring about a more hopeful day in America, we'll not just be caring for our own souls, we'll be doing God's work here on Earth. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.
Thank you very much everybody.