Political Quotes

“I have spoken out against racism from this floor before, but under the present regrettable circumstances, I feel compelled to do so again. All of us are created in the image of God and are of equal and inestimable moral worth--all of us. There are no exceptions. Both St. Peter and St. Paul spoke out against prejudice. Our Declaration of Independence states plainly that we are all created equal. Our laws require equality of treatment and opportunity. It is a fact that we betrayed this ideal when our country was founded when we tolerated slavery, an immoral human practice, which in this country was carried out by Whites against Blacks. It took nearly 90 years after our founding to erase this blot when we passed the 13th Amendment. It also took a civil war, which cost 600,000 lives. Even then, we didn't grant Black people true equality. For the next 100 years, they endured Jim Crow laws in the South, de facto segregation in the rest of the country, violence, and inequality in everything from schools to jobs. They had to win equality for themselves by bravely marching, protesting, and using every peaceful method they could find in the civil rights movement. They gradually won key court cases. And, finally, this House and the Senate passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act and, in 1965, the Voting Rights Act. But laws don't change hearts, and we are still walking the path toward ridding this Nation of the scourge of racism.…”