places and moments in america and this nation s destiny has been decided. many are sights of war. concord and lexington, gettysburg. others are sights that symbolize the daring of america s character. independence hall and seneca falls, kitty hawk and cape canaveral. selma is such a place. so much our turbulent history. the anguish of civil war. the yoke of segregation and tyranny of jim crowe. the death of four little girls
all the american people. i would like for all members of the congress in our delegation just to stand. thank you. i want to thank the faith and politics institute for bringing us together one more time and the co-leaders of our delegation, senator tim scott, senator brown and representative mart martha, thank you so much. it is with our first contact when we first came to selma in 1962. registered people to vote here long before we arrived. also glad to see the daughter of governor george wallace here,
for everywhere in this country there are first steps to be taken. there s new ground to cover. there are more bridges to be crossed. and it is you, the young and fearless at heart. the most diverse and educated generation in our history who the nation is waiting to follow. because selma shows us that america s not the project of any one person. because the single most powerful word in our democracy is the word we. we the people. we shall overcome. yes, we can. that word is owned by no one. it belongs to everyone! oh, what a glorious task we are given. to continually try to improve this great nation of ours.
they re a living thing. a call to action. a road map for citizenship and an insistence in the capacity of free men and women to shape our own destiny. for founders like franklin and jefferson and leaders like lincoln and fdr, the success of our experiment in self-government rested on engaging all of our citizens in this world. and that s what we celebrate here in selma. that s what this movement was all about. one leg in our long journey toward freedom. american instipth that led these young men and women to crossed this bring choose revolution over tyranny. drew immigrants from across oceans and the rio grande.
once have been assigned to the sectarial pool if nothing s changed. ask your gay friend if it s easier to be out and proud in america now than it was 30 years ago. to deny this progress, this hard won progress, our progress would be to rob us of our own agency, our own capacity. our responsibility. to do what we can to make america better. of course, the more common mistake is to suggest that ferguson is an isolated incident. that racism is banished. that the work that drew men and women to selma is now complete and that whatever racial tengs remain is a consequence of those seeking to play the race card for their own purposes. we don t need a ferguson report to know that s not true. we just need to open our eyes