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It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect. This is important because no development strategy can be based only upon what comes out of the ground, nor can it be sustained while young people are out of work.
The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and yes, the bitterness and bias that make up the black experience in America. To Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation; I do so recognizing that change cannot happen overnight. This history is well known. We cannot disguise hostility towards any religion behind the pretense of liberalism. We will open centers of scientific excellence in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and appoint new Science Envoys to collaborate on programs that develop new sources of energy, create green jobs, digitize records, clean water, and grow new crops.
He told me he'd joined the Marines, and was heading to Iraq the following week. When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world. America, we cannot turn back. Islamic culture has given us majestic arches and soaring spires; timeless poetry and cherished music; elegant calligraphy and places of peaceful contemplation. And any nation - including Iran - should have the right to access peaceful nuclear power if it complies with its responsibilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. That does not lessen my commitment, however, to governments that reflect the will of the people.
Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past isn't dead and buried. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism. And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream. They have affiliates in many countries and are trying to expand their reach. Resistance through violence and killing is wrong and does not succeed.
Today there are 12 million undocumented immigrants in America, most of them working in our communities, attending our churches, and contributing to our country. 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. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims. And when innocents in Bosnia and Darfur are slaughtered, that is a stain on our collective conscience. Americans are ready to join with citizens and governments; community organizations, religious leaders, and businesses in Muslim communities around the world to help our people pursue a better life.
Thank you. And may God's peace be upon you.