[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1994, Book I)]
[May 14, 1994]
[Pages 913-914]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Remarks at the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Landmark for Peace 
Memorial in Indianapolis, Indiana
May 14, 1994

    Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, now we're all being 
tested by a little rain. Those of us who grew up in farming areas know 
that rain is a gift from God. It's going to help us all grow a little.
    Let me say how honored I am to be back in Indianapolis with your 
Governor, your mayor, the prosecutor who supported this fine project. 
I'm glad to be here with Congressman Jacobs and the other Members of 
Congress and with Senator Lugar, who was the mayor here that

[[Page 914]]

fateful night in April in 1968 so long ago. I thank Mrs. Kennedy and 
Senator Kennedy and Martin and Dexter King for coming here, as well as 
others from Indiana that came down with me, Congressman Roemer, 
Congressman McCloskey, Congressman Lee Hamilton.
    Let me tell you, folks, even in the rain I can say in a much more 
brief manner what I would have taken longer to say if it hadn't been 
raining, and it is this: I sought the Presidency because I was inspired 
by what you just saw on that screen when I was a young man, and I 
believed we could do better. I believed that we could build a country 
where we would go forward instead of backward and where we would go 
forward together, where people would deal with one another across the 
bounds of race and region and income and religion and even different 
political parties and philosophies with respect and honor, to try to 
pull this country together and push our people forward.
    We just have witnessed a miracle in South Africa. We hope we are 
witnessing a miracle in the Middle East, as the Palestinians cheer and 
the police officers move into Jericho and they try to take control of 
their own destiny.
    Everywhere in the world people have looked to us for an example. And 
I ask you today, have we created that miracle here at home? What you saw 
in Robert Kennedy's speech was a miracle that night. He was advised not 
to come here. The police said, we're worried about your safety. Cities 
all over America erupted in flames when Dr. King was killed. But a 
miracle occurred here in Indianapolis. The city did not burn because the 
people's hearts were touched. Miracles begin with personal choices.
    Yes, I would like to say to you, the things I can do as your 
President to create jobs, to empower people through education, to reform 
the welfare system, to give health care to all Americans, to pass this 
crime bill, these things will change America. Oh, yes, they will. But in 
the end, America must be changed by you, in your hearts, in your lives 
every day on every street in this country. And you can do it.
    In our Nation's Capital, just a few days ago, there was a news story 
about people living in a poor neighborhood who got sick and tired of 
seeing their children shot and living in fear, so they put a big fence 
up around their neighborhood. And they hired guards, just like they were 
rich folks in a planned development. And they got exactly the same 
result: people could go outside and sit on the park benches, and the 
children could walk and play. And one of the men was interviewed. He 
said, ``I guess this is freedom in the nineties.'' Is it freedom in the 
nineties when we have to put up walls between our own people even as we 
celebrate the walls coming down from Berlin to South Africa? Is that our 
freedom? Are we going to live in a time when all of our political dialog 
becomes a shouting match? You heard what Diane said. That's absolutely 
true. ``If you preach hate, you can get a talk show. If you preach love, 
you'll get a yawn.''
    What we have to decide today is whether we are going to live by the 
spirit that animates this park and this project. I want to thank the 
Indiana Pacers. I want to thank your prosecutor. I want to thank 
everybody who's responsible for this gun buy-back program. But when they 
melt that metal down and they make this statue to the memory of Martin 
Luther King and Robert Kennedy, you ask yourselves, why don't we keep 
giving these guns up? Why don't we keep melting them down? Why don't we 
make a monument to peace where all of us can live together, not with 
walls coming up but with walls tearing down, so we can go forward 
together.
    God bless you, and thank you very much.

Note: The President spoke at 10 a.m. at the Martin Luther King Memorial 
Park. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Evan Bayh of Indiana; Mayor 
Stephen Goldsmith of Indianapolis; Jeffery Modisett, Marion County 
prosecutor; Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert F. Kennedy; Martin Luther 
King III and Dexter King, sons of Martin Luther King, Jr.; and Diane 
Simon, wife of Indiana Pacers owner Herb Simon, whose team spearheaded 
the memorial project.