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They want a sense of purpose, a narrative arc to their lives. I was not raised in a particularly religious household. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children. That experience guides my conviction that partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn't. For more than sixty years they have endured the pain of dislocation.
But as Americans, we also know that this is a nation of laws, and we cannot have those laws broken when more than 2,000 people cross our borders illegally every day. But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America. Unlike Afghanistan, Iraq was a war of choice that provoked strong differences in my country and around the world.
Her father worked on oil rigs and farms through most of the Depression. Nor is it beyond the sea. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. Those stories - of survival, and freedom, and hope - became our story, my story; the blood that had spilled was our blood, the tears our tears; until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world.
I've been speaking to a lot of churches recently, so it's nice to be speaking to one that's so familiar. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism. To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation; There is no straight line to realize this promise.
If you're working forty hours a week, you shouldn't be living in poverty. The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives - on health care and education and the economy - Senator McCain has been anything but independent. I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition.
Thank you. And may God's peace be upon you.