THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. I'm honored to
join you today in today's ceremony. I'm proud to dedicate this piece of
our Nation's Capital to the lasting memory of a great man.
We have gathered in tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, to the ideals
he held and to the life he lived. Dr. King showed us that a life of
conscience and purpose can lift up many souls. And on this ground, a
monument will rise that preserves his legacy for the ages. Honoring Dr.
King's legacy requires more than building a monument; it required the
ongoing commitment of every American. So we will continue to work for
the day when the dignity and humanity of every person is respected, and
the American promise is denied no one.
This project has been over a decade in the making, and I thank those
who have worked to bring about this day. I particularly want to thank my
predecessor, the man who signed the legislation to create this memorial,
President Bill Clinton. (Applause.) It sounds like to me they haven't
forgotten you yet. (Laughter.) He's become, as you know, my fourth
brother. (Laughter.)
I want to thank Harry Johnson. I appreciate the members of my Cabinet
who are here. I welcome the members of Congress. I thank my Mayor, Tony
Williams, who is here. I'm proud to be with the members of the King
family. I thank the representatives of the community and civil rights
groups who have joined us. I thank the Martin Luther King, Jr. National
Memorial Project Foundation board members and executive cabinet. Most of
all, thank you all for coming. (Applause.)
Our Declaration of Independence makes it clear that the human right
to dignity and equality is not a grant of government. It is the gift
from the Author of Life. And Martin Luther King considered the
Declaration one of America's great, as he called it, "charters of
freedom." He called our founders' words, "a promise that all men -- yes,
black men, as well as white men -- would be guaranteed the unalienable
right of liberty, life, and the pursuit of happiness."
Throughout Dr. King's life, he continued to trust in the power of
those words, even when the practice of America did not live up to their
promise. When Martin Luther King came to Washington, D.C. in the summer
of 1963, he came to hold this nation to its own standards, and to call
its citizens to live up to the principles of our founding. He stood not
far from here, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. With thousands
gathered around him, Dr. King looked out over the American capital and
declared his famous words, "I have a dream."
His dream spread a message of hope that echoed from his hometown of
Sweet Auburn, Georgia, to the pulpit of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, to
the Edmund Pettus Bridge. An assassin's bullet could not shatter the
dream. Dr. King's message of justice and brotherhood took hold in the
hearts of men and women across the great land of ours. It continues to
inspire millions across the world.
As we break ground, we give Martin Luther King his rightful place
among the great Americans honored on our National Mall. The King
Memorial will span a piece of ground between the Jefferson and Lincoln
Memorials. And by its presence in this place it will unite the men who
declared the promise of America and defended the promise of America with
the man who redeemed the promise of America. (Applause.)
The memorial will reflect the arc of Dr. King's life, his search for
justice, and the enduring beauty of his words. The memorial will include
a wall where visitors can read passages from Dr. King's sermons and
speeches through a stream of water. And on the banks of the Potomac,
visitors will walk from the Mountain of Despair to the Stone of Hope,
where Dr. King's image is rendered.
Today we see only these open acres, yet we know that when the work is
done, the King Memorial will be a fitting tribute, powerful and hopeful
and poetic, like the man it honors. As we break ground, we remember the
great obstacles that Dr. King overcame and the courage that transformed
American history. The years of Martin Luther King's life were
tumultuous, difficult, and an heroic time in the life of our country.
Across our nation, African Americans faced daily cruelties and pervasive
wrongs. In 1955, a woman, Rosa Parks, challenged these wrongs on a bus
in Montgomery, Alabama, when she refused a driver's order to give her
seat to a white man. Her act of defiance inspired a young Baptist
minister and changed our nation forever.
Within days of Rosa Parks' lonely protest, Dr. King helped organize a
boycott that captured the attention of our country. When Dr. King's
leadership -- with Dr. King's leadership, the boycott forced America to
confront the glaring contradiction between the sign on the bus and the
words of our Declaration of Independence. And on this date, exactly 50
years ago, the Supreme Court ruled the segregation of public buses
unconstitutional. And so today we celebrate the courage that won
victories and helped spark one of the greatest movements for equality
and freedom in American history.
Eventually, the civil rights movement would succeed in persuading
Congress to pass sweeping legislation that represented a new founding
for our nation. On July 2, 1964, President Johnson signed the Civil
Rights Act at the White House. As of that date, no longer could weary
travelers be denied a room in a hotel, or a table at a restaurant on
account of their race. And no longer could any American be forced to
drink from a separate water fountain, or sit at the back of the bus just
because of their race.
Dr. King liked to say that our Civil Rights Act was written in the
streets by citizens who marched for the idea that all men are created
equal. He was right; yet there is no doubt that the law came as it did
when it did because of the courage and leadership of Martin Luther King.
As we break ground, we recognize our duty to continue the unfinished
work of American freedom. America has come a long way since Dr. King's
day; yet our journey to justice is not complete. There are still people
in our society who hurt, neighborhoods are too poor. There are still
children who do not get the education they need to fulfill their
God-given potential. There's still prejudice that holds citizens back.
And there's still a need for all Americans to hear the words of Dr. King
so we can hasten the day when his message of hope takes hold in every
community across our country.
We go forward with the knowledge that the Creator who wrote the
desire for liberty in our hearts also gives us the strength and wisdom
to fulfill it. We go forward with trust that God, who has brought us
thus far on the way, will give us the strength to finish the journey.
And we go forward with the confidence that no matter how difficult the
challenge, if we remain true to our founding principles, America will
overcome.
Dr. King was on this Earth just 39 years, but the ideas that guided
his work and his life are eternal. Here in this place, we will raise a
lasting memorial to those eternal truths. So in the presence of his
family, his coworkers in freedom's cause, and those who carry on his
legacy today, I'm proud to dedicate this ground on behalf of the
American people as the site of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. May
God bless you all. (Applause.) |