[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[May 14, 1994]
[Pages 912-913]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's Radio Address
May 14, 1994

    Good morning. This week we're reminded once again that miracles are 
born of hope. Seven thousand miles from our shores, in a land divided 
for over 300 years by the most pervasive form of racial hatred and 
violence, blacks and whites participated in free elections that elevated 
Nelson Mandela to the Presidency of South Africa.
    Democracy's triumph in that distant land owes much to our own 
history and our own people. For over two centuries we have led the world 
by example, showing how human beings of different complexions, ethnic 
origins, and religious beliefs can come together under the great 
umbrella of freedom.
    Yet, ironically, as we hear the call of liberty sound around the 
world, we find our own freedoms tested here at home, not by the enemies 
of totalitarianism and oppression but by those of cynicism, intolerance, 
incivility, and violence here at home.
    Today I'm speaking to you from Mount Helm Missionary Baptist Church 
in Indianapolis, courtesy of WIBC Radio, not far from the site where 
Senator Robert Kennedy spoke in 1968 just moments after learning that 
Reverend Martin Luther King had been assassinated. On that awful night 
26 years ago, Robert Kennedy beckoned Americans of all races to show 
compassion and wisdom in the face of violence and lawlessness. Many 
cities in America erupted in flames after Dr. King was killed, but here 
the citizens of Indianapolis heeded his call. Once again, it is time for 
us to heed those words, time to build up instead of tear down, time to 
renew our faith in freedom and to refurbish our own democracy.
    During the next few weeks we'll be reminded of moments in our 
history like that one in April of 1968 when Americans joined together to 
overcome great challenges. On Tuesday, we'll celebrate the 40th 
anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board 
of Education, which gave Americans of all races equal access to our 
Nation's public schools. A few weeks later, I'll travel to Europe to 
rep-


[[Page 913]]

resent all Americans as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of D-Day, a 
day on which we thank an entire generation for risking their lives so 
that democracy would not fall victim to tyranny.
    Celebrating these great occasions is important, but not enough. The 
pride we feel as Americans must inspire us to renew the society we live 
in today. It must inspire us to overcome racial, social, and political 
divisions and the sheer weight of violence that threaten the very 
freedoms we've worked so hard to secure. After all, our Nation's motto 
is, E Pluribus Unum--out of many, one.
    That's why our administration has worked hard to restore our 
economy, to reward work by bringing down the deficit and increasing 
investment and trade and creating more jobs; why we've worked hard to 
empower all our people to compete and win in a global economy through 
lifetime education programs; why we've worked to strengthen our families 
through the Family and Medical Leave Act, tougher enforcement of child 
support orders, tax breaks for lower income working families with 
children; why we've worked to bring our diverse culture together with 
the most diverse and excellent national administration in history and a 
real commitment to our civil rights laws; and why we're working so hard 
to create a safer America with the Brady bill and the crime bill now 
before Congress, with its ban on assault weapons, it's 100,000 more 
police officers, its more punishment and more prevention to give our 
young people something to say yes to.
    But in the end, all our progress as a nation depends more on the 
attitudes and the values of our citizens than by the actions of our 
Government. In Washington, DC, recently, the residents of a local 
housing project became so fed up with drug dealers and gangs that they 
put up a big fence around the complex and stationed guards at the 
entrances to keep unwanted visitors at bay. In other words, poor people 
in a housing project did what a lot of wealthy Americans have been doing 
in their neighborhoods for some time. Now their children can play on the 
lawn again, and people can visit each other on outdoor benches. One 
resident called it the freedom of the nineties. Well, I applaud that 
community for refusing to give in to criminals who tyrannize the 
neighborhoods with their guns and took their children's freedom away.
    But I wonder what it says about our country and our democracy when 
freedom has come to mean that we barricade our children from the outside 
world in order to protect them from harm, that we install floodlights 
and foot patrols in the backyards of our homes to feel secure. That 
isn't the kind of freedom our Forefathers conceived of 200 years ago, 
not the kind of freedom that Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy gave 
their lives for, not the kind of freedom that Nelson Mandela dreams of 
in a land newly introduced to democracy and looking to us for support.
    As we reflect on the recent events in South Africa and celebrate 
times of renewal in our own history, let each of us find within 
ourselves the courage to overcome old animosities that get in freedom's 
way. And I hope each of us will find a reservoir of hope deep inside 
that will help to lead our Nation to a brighter and better future.
    Thanks for listening.

Note: The President spoke at 9:06 a.m. from the Mount Helm Missionary 
Baptist Church in Indianapolis, IN.