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Indestructible Black Conscience |
"There's still two Americas, one black, one white, separate and
unequal."
"We're not here to tear down America; America is tearing itself down. We
are here to rebuild the wasted cities."
"We, as a people who have been fractured, divided and destroyed because of
our division, now must move toward a perfect union. We got them all here today.
And why did we come? We came because we want to move toward a more perfect
union."
"We're talking about moving toward a perfect union. Well, pointing out
fault, pointing out our wrongs is the first step. The second step is to
acknowledge. "Oh, thank you. Oh, man, I'm wrong."'
"We are being torn apart, and we can't gloss it over with nice speeches, my
dear Mr. President. Sir, with all due respect, that was a great speech you made
today. And you praised the marchers, and they are worthy of praise. You honored
the marchers, and they are worthy of honor. But, of course, you spoke ill,
indirectly, of me as a purveyor of malice and hatred.
"Power and wealth has made America spiritually blind. And the power and the
arrogance of America makes you refuse to hear a child of your slaves pointing
out the wrong in your society."
"All of these black men that the world sees as savage, maniacal and
beastial, look at them. A sea of peace. A sea of tranquility."
"In the last 10 years America has experienced more calamities than at any
other time period in American history. Why, America? God is angry."
"Here's the carcass, the remains of a once-mighty people, dry bones in the
valley, a people slain from the foundation of the world. But God hath sent the
winds to blow on the bones. One of those winds is named Gingrich, and the
companion wind is named Dole. And the other is called Supreme Court decisions.
The other is fratricidal conflict, drugs and dope and violence and crime. But
we've had enough now. This is why you're in Washington today."
"The real evil in America is the idea that under girds the setup of the
Western world, and that idea is called white supremacy."
"So either, Mr. Clinton, we're going to do away with the mind-set of the
founding fathers.... You don't have to say they were malicious, hate-filled
people. But you must evolve out of their mindset. You see their mind was limited
to those six European nations out of which this country was founded."
"Right here on this mall where we are standing, according to books written
on Washington, D.C., slaves used to be brought right here on this mall in
chains, to be sold up and down the eastern seaboard. Right along this mall,
going over to the White House, our fathers were sold into slavery."
"Thomas Jefferson said he trembled for this country when he reflected that
God was just and that his justice could not sleep forever. Well, the day that
these presidents feared has now come to pass...."
"Now the president spoke today, and he wanted to heal the Great Divide. But
I respectfully suggest to the president: You did not dig deep enough at the
malady that divides black and white, in order to effect a solution to the
problem."
"And if you notice, the press triggered every one of those divisions...Oh,
but you better look again, Willy. There's a new black man in America today, a
new black woman in America today."
"Well, some of us are here because it's history-making. Some of us are here
because it's a march through which we can express anger and rage with America
for what she has and is doing to us. So we're here for many reasons. But the
basic reason that this was called was for atonement and reconciliation."
"We cannot continue the destruction of our lives and the destruction of our
community. But that change can't come until we feel sorry."
"But, President Clinton, America is also wounded, and there's hostility now
in the great divide between the people. Socially, the fabric of America is being
torn apart, and it's black against black, black against white, white against
white, white against black, yellow against brown, brown against yellow."
"I must hasten to tell you, Mr. President that I'm not a malicious person,
and I'm not filled with malice. But I must tell you that I come in the tradition
of the doctor who has to point out, with truth, what's wrong."
"America. America the beautiful. There's no country like this on the Earth.
And certainly if I lived in another country, I might never have had the
opportunity to speak as I speak today."
"And if God were to answer us today, He would say to black people,
"Yes, I allowed this to happen, and I know you suffered.' But Martin King,
my servant, said undeserved suffering is redemptive."
"I'm not telling you I'm a psychiatrist, but I do want to operate on your
head. White supremacy is the enemy of both white people and black people,
because the idea of white supremacy means you should rule because you're
white."
"Black folk would never rejoice over the slaughter of Ron Goldman and
Nicole Brown Simpson. Black folk saw that with compassion. Many black folk
grieved over that reality."
"And the president is not going to point this out. He's trying to get well,
but he's a physician that can't heal himself."
"The doctrine of white supremacy disallows whites to grow to their full
potential. It forces white people to see themselves as the law or above the
law."
"And so, white folks are having heart attacks today because their world is
coming down. And if you look at the Asians, the Asians have the fastest-growing
economies in the world.'
"Demonstrate your gift, not your breast. Demonstrate your gift, not what is
between your legs. Clean up, black man, and the world will respect and honor
you. But you have fallen down like the prodigal son and you're husking corn and
feeding swine."
"We're not putting you down, brothers. We want to pick you up, so with your
rap you can pick up the world, with your song you can pick up the world, with
your dance, with your music you can pick up the world."
"And so, America, if your conscience is afflicted because God is lashing
you, don't just start with the Constitution, Mr. President, start with the evil
of slavery, because that's the root of the problem."
"Black man, you don't have to bash white people. All we've got to do is go
back home and turn our communities into productive places."
"Every time we drive-by shooting, every time we car-jack, every time we use
foul, filthy language, every time we produce culturally degenerate films and
tapes, putting a string in our women's backside and parading them before the
world, every time we do things like this we are feeding the degenerate mind of
white supremacy."
"We must become a totally organized people, and the only way we can do that
is to become a part of some organization that is working for the uplift of our
people. Now, brothers, moral and spiritual renewal is a necessity. Every one of
you must go back home and join some church, synagogue, temple, or mosque that is
teaching spiritual and moral uplift."
"Brothers, when you go home, we got to register 8 million eligible, but
unregistered brothers, sisters. So you go home and find eight more like
yourself. You register and get them to."
"And then all of us can stand on that agenda, and in 1996 whoever the
standard-bearer is for the Democratic Party, the Republican Party or Independent
party, should one come into existence, they got to speak to our agenda."