Laura and I
are anguished by the brutal suffocation of George Floyd and disturbed by the
injustice and fear that suffocate our country. Yet we have resisted the urge to
speak out because this is not the time for us to lecture. It is time for us to
listen. It is time for America to examine our tragic failures — and as we do,
we will also see some of our redeeming strengths.
It remains a shocking failure
that many African Americans, especially young African American men, are
harassed and threatened in their own country. It is a strength when protesters,
protected by responsible law enforcement, march for a better future. This
tragedy — in a long series of similar tragedies — raises a long-overdue
question: How do we end systemic racism in our society? The only way to see
ourselves in true light is to listen to the voices of so many who are hurting
and grieving. Those who set out to silence those voices do not understand the
meaning of America — or how it becomes a better place.
America’s greatest challenge
has long been to unite people of very different backgrounds into a single
nation of justice and opportunity. The doctrine and habits of racial
superiority, which once nearly split our country, still threaten our Union. The
answers to American problems are found by living up to American ideals — to the
fundamental truth that all human beings are created equal and endowed by God with certain rights. We have often underestimated how radical that quest really
is, and how our cherished principles challenge systems of intended or assumed
injustice. The heroes of America — from Frederick Douglass to Harriet Tubman,
to Abraham Lincoln, to Martin Luther King, Jr. — are heroes of unity. Their
calling has never been for the fainthearted. They often revealed the nation’s
disturbing bigotry and exploitation — stains on our character sometimes
difficult for the American majority to examine. We can only see the reality of
America’s need by seeing it through the eyes of the threatened, oppressed, and
disenfranchised.
That is exactly where we now
stand. Many doubt the justice of our country, and with good reason. Black
people see the repeated violation of their rights without an urgent and
adequate response from American institutions. We know that lasting justice will
only come by peaceful means. Looting is not liberation, and destruction is not
progress. But we also know that lasting peace in our communities requires truly
equal justice. The rule of law ultimately depends on the fairness and
legitimacy of the legal system. And achieving justice for all is the duty of
all.
This will require a
consistent, courageous, and creative effort. We serve our neighbors best when
we try to understand their experience. We love our neighbors as ourselves when
we treat them as equals, in both protection and compassion. There is a better
way — the way of empathy, and shared commitment, and bold action, and peace
rooted in justice. I am confident that together, Americans will choose the
better way.
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