Today, President Obama joined thousands in Washington to commemorate the new monument for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“For this day, we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s return to the National Mall. In this place, he will stand for all time, among monuments to those who fathered this nation and those who defended it; a black preacher with no official rank or title who somehow gave voice to our deepest dreams and our most lasting ideals, a man who stirred our conscience and thereby helped make our union more perfect.”
The President acknowledge that although we as a nation have made progress, “our work, Dr. King’s work is not yet complete.” The President spoke about the various “tests” we have gone through, but urge everyone to remember Dr. King’s tenacity.
“And just as we draw strength from Dr. King’s struggles, so must we draw inspiration from his constant insistence on the oneness of man. The believe, in his words that, ‘we are caught in an inescapable network on neutrality, tied in a single garment of destiny.'”
And the President called for unity in our divided political arena, saying if Dr. King was here today, “…he would want us to know that we can argue fiercely about the proper size and role of government without questioning each other’s love for this country. With the knowledge that in this democracy government is no distant object, but is rather an expression of our common commitments to one another. He would call on us to assume the best in each other, rather than the worst. And challenge one other in ways that ultimately heal, rather than wound.”
Mr. Obama ended by expressing his optimism for America’s future saying, “as tough as times may be, I know we will overcome, I know there are better days ahead, I know this because of the man towering over us, I know this because of all he and his generation endured, we are here today in a country that dedicated a monument to that legacy.”
Video.
