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Pres. Obama: This is not a time for cynics. It is not a time for doubters. It is time for believers.
excerpt of remarks by President Obama at the National Urban League Convention, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
New Orleans, Louisiana, July 25, 2012:
____ For nearly a century, the National Urban League has been inspiring people of every race and every religion and every walk of life to reach for the dream that lies at the heart of our founding -- the promise that no matter who you are, no matter what you look like, no matter where you came from, no matter how modest your beginnings, no matter what the circumstances of your birth, here in America, you can make it if you try. (Applause.)
Of course, this dream has never come easy. That’s why the Urban League was formed. In the aftermath of the Civil War, with the South in the grips of Jim Crow, the waves of men and women who traveled north to urban centers discovered that even in their new homes, opportunity was not guaranteed. It was something you had to work for, something you had to fight for –- not just on your own, but side-by-side with people who believed in that same dream.
And so the white widow of a railroad tycoon and a black social worker from Arkansas founded what would become the Urban League, to strengthen our cities and our communities brick by brick, and block by block, and neighborhood by neighborhood, life by life.
Decades later, I arrived in one of those cities my hometown of Chicago. (Applause.) South Side! (Applause.) And I was driven by this same cause. Like many of my classmates, I felt, I understood, the pull of a hefty paycheck that might come from a more conventional job. But ultimately the pull to serve was even stronger.
So I moved to the South Side of Chicago, and I took a job with a group of churches, mostly Catholic parishes, working to help families who had no place to turn when the local steel plants shut down, and when panic-peddling had led to enormous turnover in these communities. And we worked with laypeople and local leaders to rebuild neighborhoods and improve schools, and most of all, to broaden opportunity for young people, too many who were at risk.
And I confess that progress didn’t come quickly and it did not come easily. Sometimes, it didn’t come at all. There were times where I thought about giving up and moving on. But what kept me going, day in and day out, was the same thing that has sustained the Urban League all these years, the same thing that sustains all of you, and that is the belief that in America, change is always possible; that our union may not be perfect, but it is perfectible; that we can strive over time through effort and sweat and blood and tears until it is the place we imagine.
It may come in fits and starts, at a pace that can be slow and frustrating. But if we are willing to push through all the doubt and the cynicism and the weariness, then, yes, we can form that more perfect union. (Applause.)
Now, the people I worked with in those early days in Chicago, they were looking for the same thing that Americans everyplace aspire to. We’re not a nation of people who are looking for handouts. We certainly don’t like bailouts. (Laughter.) We don’t believe government should be in the business of helping people who refuse to help themselves, and we recognize not every government program works. But we do expect hard work to pay off. We do expect responsibility to be rewarded. We do expect that if you put in enough effort, you should be able to find a job that pays the bills. (Applause.) You should be able to own a home you call your own. You should be able to retire in dignity and respect. You should be able to afford the security of health care and you should be able to give your kids the best possible education. (Applause.)
That idea that everybody should have a fair shot, not just some -- that this country is special because it has grown this magnificent middle class and has provided ladders of access for those striving to get into the middle class -- that's the idea that drove me. That's the idea that has driven the Urban League, That idea that everyone should have equal opportunity -- that's what brought me to Chicago.
That belief that this country works best when we are growing a strong middle class and prosperity is broad-based -- that's what led me into politics. And it is those values that have guided every decision that I have made as President of the United States.
For more than two centuries, our journey has never been easy, and our victories have never come quickly. And we have faced our share of struggles and setbacks and climbs that have seemed too steep -– just like we do today. But we know what we’re fighting for. We can see the America we believe in –- a country where everybody gets a fair shot and everybody is doing their fair share, where everybody is playing by the same set of rules. And if we don’t keep fighting as hard as we know how for that America, if we don’t keep fighting for better jobs and better schools and a better future, who will? (Applause.)
That's our challenge. We don’t quit. Folks in New Orleans didn't quit. Americans don't quit. (Applause.) We accept responsibility. We keep on going. We keep marching. We keep moving forward. Failure is not an option. (Applause.) This is not a time for cynics. It is not a time for doubters. It is time for believers. It is time for folks who have faith in the future.
full remarks: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/07/25/remarks-president-national-urban-league-convention
33 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
She resisted the impulse to be cynical.
No offense taken.
No offense taken.
And for not taking offense
Lofty rhetoric, but I am a confirmed cynic.
Oh well... (Oh and having covered plenty of speeches from just your lowly city council, to actual presidential candidates... this is all it is... meant to get the base going)
But you will have to admit, if I was a cynic before, now I am worst of one.
Okie dockie.
Odd mood really... when trying to write short fiction with fire scanner in the background. All those taxes AT WORK... but damn it, people stop them fires!
(One of them is potentially bad, but they have been throwing everything, including the kitchen sink, at these things in the recent past... a lessons learned)
