[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George H. W. Bush (1992, Book I)]
[January 17, 1992]
[Pages 116-119]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks on Signing the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday 
Proclamation in Atlanta, Georgia

January 17, 1992
    Thank you for that warm welcome, and thank you, Mr. Hill. And let me 
just tell you, sir, how pleased I am to be a part of this program today. 
It's, of course, a pleasure to have flown down here and to be at the 
side of Coretta Scott King and all this wonderful King family, sitting 
here and here. It takes me back to a couple of other visits to this 
historic center that I've been privileged to make.
    With me also today is one well-known to the Atlanta community, now 
well-known to the Nation, our Secretary of HHS, Dr. Lou Sullivan. He is 
doing a superb job for our Nation. And after he heard the successful, 
wonderful rendition of the Morehouse Glee Club, these guys that came and 
swept into Washington at the Kennedy Center Honors and carried the day 
in a magnificent national performance, after Lou heard them here today 
he now is claiming that he, too, was a member of the Morehouse Glee 
Club. [Laughter]
    And when Maynard Jackson, the distin-

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guished Mayor and my friend, heard them, he also claims to have been a 
member of the Morehouse Glee Club. It's the first time I've heard this. 
But nevertheless--[laughter]--I salute both of them, and both, one here 
in the city of Atlanta, one in Washington, and thus across the Nation, 
doing a wonderful job for our country.
    Let me just say, flying down here with my dear friend Newt Gingrich, 
who is with us, a Member of the United States Congress, we talked about 
the center, and we talked about a lot of things of national interest. 
And then I said, ``Well, Newt, how's it going in Georgia?'' And he said, 
and I don't want to get him in trouble because this is a nonpartisan 
event, but he said, ``Governor Miller is doing an outstanding job for 
this State.'' And Zell, I'm very pleased to see you here, sir.
    And Reverend Roberts, I appreciate those words. I do believe that 
you can't hold this job if you don't look to God for guidance. I feel 
strongly about that, and I appreciate those kind words of guidance in 
your invocation.
    It is for me an honor to stand here at this living memorial in 
Martin Luther King's hometown, steps from his birthplace and his pulpit, 
to talk about the promise of his life. We all know of his eloquence: the 
letter from the Birmingham jail, and then no one will ever forget the 
``I Have A Dream'' speech. They moved us with their hope and love and 
with the abiding faith that Dr. King had in the American people. What 
you have done, Coretta, if I may, with this glorious living memorial, 
serves to remind us of the courage with which Martin Luther King 
overcame hatred and mistrust. It's too easy for us, almost a quarter of 
a century after his death, to forget the loneliness of that struggle.
    Think of the early days of the movement when organizers of the 
Montgomery bus boycott called him to be their leader. In his book, 
``Stride Toward Freedom,'' he wrote of sitting alone at the kitchen 
table one night during the lonely time and saying aloud, ``I've come to 
the point where I can't face it alone.'' But almost at once his fear and 
his uncertainty began to melt away. An inner voice, as he called it, an 
inner voice spoke to him, and it told him to continue to do what he knew 
to be right. And because he could express what he knew with such passion 
and such eloquence, the American people awakened to the promise of civil 
rights for all.
    And today, thanks in large part to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s work, 
we have a battery of laws dedicated to a colorblind America. We have a 
renewed commitment from Government to enforce the basic rights of its 
citizens. And I'm proud that two significant civil rights bills have 
become law since I was President: the ADA, the Americans with Disability 
Act, and the civil rights bill of '91. Perhaps most marvelous of all, 
there's been a sea change, there's been a change in the hearts of many 
Americans who set aside old stereotypes and old prejudices to embrace 
the values that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. beseeched us to embrace, the 
values of tolerance and decency and mutual respect.
    At the heart of these values, as Dr. King knew, is the family. And I 
am struck, Mrs. King, by how often in our conversations together you 
have stressed the importance of family life. Barbara and I feel it in 
our own lives. And think of the problems that afflict so many American 
communities today, homelessness and crime and drugs. Yet, these are not 
so much isolated problems as symptoms of one great problem, and that's 
the decline of the family. For far too many of our children pass through 
life without the goals larger than themselves, without a sense of their 
own worth or the worth of others, without the values that only the love 
of a parent or a grandparent can instill.
    Yesterday, purely coincidentally, I met with the mayors who lead the 
National League of Cities. And some were from great big cities like Los 
Angeles; Trenton, New Jersey. Some were from hamlets and tiny cities, 
Plano, Texas, a city of 3,000; another one in North Carolina. And some 
were Democrats, and some were Republicans. But every single one of them 
agreed--they'd met before I met with them--that the urban problems stem 
in large part from the weakening of the family. And this problem, this 
terrible weakening of family, is not just somebody else's problem. It 
demands something from each of us.

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    Martin Luther King taught us that each of us is called to serve, 
regardless of personal circumstances. And each of us can serve. On the 
last night of his life, before that terrible day in Memphis, Dr. King 
told a story that I do think of often--visiting the Holy Land when he 
was a young man, with you, Coretta. Happened to travel the road from 
Jerusalem to Jericho, the same road where the Good Samaritan stopped, 
the Bible teaches, to help a stranger. The road was rocky and full of 
blind curves. And as he traveled, Dr. King realized that the reason 
others failed to stop to help the stranger was that they were afraid. 
Others had asked themselves, ``If I stop to help this man, what will 
happen to me?'' But the Good Samaritan asked himself, ``If I don't stop 
to help this man, what will happen to him?'' The joy of personal service 
is that it is open to all.
    The other day I met with Magic Johnson in the Oval Office, and I was 
impressed with the way that he has now dedicated his life to others, not 
only to those with HIV but in educating those who are at risk. And he's 
been very honest, been very forthright about this tragic issue. He's out 
there right now teaching kids that lifestyle matters, lifestyle is 
important. He's admitting, ``Well, I made some terrible mistakes.'' Now 
he wants to get the message out.
    I want to help. I want to use the bully pulpit of the White House, 
continue to use it for that same purpose, to speak out for strong 
research, to help people better understand the disease, and to speak out 
for a change of behavior.
    Anyone who visits AIDS clinics, incidentally, as Barbara and I have 
done, can't help but be struck by the dedication, the selfless 
dedication, and Lou knows what I'm talking about, Dr. Sullivan does, of 
the countless doctors and the nurses and the researchers and the 
volunteers who understand the human face of AIDS.
    When Barbara holds an AIDS baby in her arms, she's trying to express 
that same message, a message of compassion and service. There are so 
many ways to serve. With her interest in literacy, she's tried to 
impress upon people the importance of reading to kids, broadening their 
horizons, expanding their young minds. And it's important to remember 
that one of the first goals of the civil rights movement was as basic as 
can be: quality education for all. We've made enormous progress, thanks 
in large part to Martin Luther King, in removing the legal barriers that 
blocked progress for minority Americans.
    But let's face it. Regrettably, other kinds of barriers remain. For 
instance, the dream of quality education remains an unfulfilled promise 
for too many of our children. And now, our America 2000 education 
program will help lift up those kids who have been left behind.
    I want to stop here also to salute two great leaders in American 
education, Dr. Keith of Morehouse and Dr. Cole of Spelman. With leaders 
like this, we are, in a sense, inspiring new generations. And I also 
want to salute and honor Dr. Gloster, who was previously the head of 
this great institution represented here today not only by Dr. Sullivan 
but by these magnificent young people.
    Yes, too much prejudice, racism and anti-Semitism, and blind hatred 
still exist in our land. Martin preached something different, but they 
still exist in our land. And as President, I'm trying and all of us must 
try and must pledge to root out bigotry wherever we find it. Speak out 
in whatever community you are. Every day, Mrs. King, you and your 
colleagues here at this center train young people that the way to 
counter hatred and ignorance and prejudice is peacefully, with 
nonviolence, with compassion, with love and service to others.
    That is the honorable, noble continuation of your husband's work. He 
taught us the difference one man can make in a country dedicated to the 
ideals of brotherhood. He saw an America that was like the welcome table 
the spiritual speaks of, where all Americans can eat and never be 
hungry, drink and never be thirsty. With your continuing commitment and 
help, we will meet these great challenges and make real the dream of 
Martin Luther King.
    Thank you all very much. Now it is my honor for the United States of 
America to sign this proclamation. Thank you.

                    Note: The President spoke at 10:29 a.m. in

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                        Freedom Hall at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 
                        Center. In his remarks, he referred to Jesse 
                        Hill, Jr., chairman of the board, Dr. Martin 
                        Luther King, Jr. Center; Rev. Joseph L. Roberts, 
                        Jr., senior pastor, Ebenezer Baptist Church; 
                        Leroy Keith, Jr., and Hugh M. Gloster, president 
                        and former president, Morehouse College; and 
                        Johnetta B. Cole, president, Spelman College. 
                        The proclamation is listed in Appendix E at the 
                        end of this volume.