Bill Clinton: “Let me tell you what I know. I'm old enough to remember in my home State when I could go into county courthouses and…”

“Let me tell you what I know. I'm old enough to remember in my home State when I could go into county courthouses and look at the square, and the restrooms were divided between ``white'' and ``colored.'' I'm old enough to remember when people had to buy a poll tax to vote. I'm old enough to know that if my skin were a different color, I could not have been born to a widowed mother in a tiny town in Arkansas, who married my stepfather who did not have a high school diploma, and become President. But I believe there will come a time when all of you could become President or do anything else you want to do. And I know that all these affirmative action programs haven't been perfect. I've actually gotten rid of some myself; we've raised the standards on others. I've never been for quotas; I've never been for anybody unqualified getting anything they were not qualified for. But I am for giving people a chance to prove that they are qualified. Let me give you an example. I admire General Powell for coming out here and taking on his own party and being candid enough to talk about how many African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, and female military officers there are who got there because they had the right kind of affirmative action; not because they were unqualified, because they got a chance--somebody made an extra effort to give them a chance to prove they were qualified. I admire that. I read an article the other day in a magazine about my appointments to the Federal bench. And they pointed out how I had appointed a higher percentage of women and minorities than any other President, but they also had the highest rating from the American Bar Association since the ratings have been used. We gave people a chance to prove they were qualified and then to serve. And I think we ought to keep doing that. I believe that. If somebody can show us where we're wrong on this or that or the other policy, we ought to be willing to change it. If some policy or program can't be defended, we ought to be willing to get rid of it. But we ought not to give up the idea that we're not where we need to be yet. But we're going in the right direction. That's what I believe. And I hope you do, too. The other thing I believe is, we've got to get to the point in this country where we can let some of this stuff go and say, ``You know, if you believe in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, if you show up for work every day or you show up for school every day and you do what you're supposed to do and you're doing the best you can, we don't need to know anything else about you. The rest of that shouldn't concern us. You're part of our America. And we'll go in hands with you, and we'll go on into the future together.'' That's why I was so against those church burnings and why I hate it when a synagogue or a mosque is defaced in the United States and why it is wrong for people to manifest their Government hatred by blowing up buildings like the tragedy in Oklahoma City. We cannot afford that. We've got too much to live for, too much to work for. No country in the world is as fortunate as the United States, if we build a bridge to the 21st century together. Now, will you help me do that? [Applause] And will you show up Tuesday? And will you talk to your friends and neighbors? [Applause] Thank you, California. You were there for me. I've been there for you. I need you one more time on Tuesday. Thank you, and God bless you.”