    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [March 29, 1997]
    [Pages 361-362]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's Radio Address
    March 29, 1997

        Good morning. Spring is a season of renewal, not just of the world
    around us but of the ideals inside us, those that bind us together as a
    people. Millions of families will come together to celebrate Easter this
    weekend and Passover in the coming weeks, to reaffirm their faith in God
    and their commitment to our sacred values.
        And in this season of renewal, I ask all Americans to reaffirm their
    commitment to this central ideal, that we are many people but one
    nation, bound together by shared values rooted in the essential dignity
    and meaning of every American's life and liberty. That is the root of
    the American idea of a community of equal, free, responsible citizens
    and the American dream to build the best possible future for our
    children.
        The divide of race has been America's constant curse in pursuit of
    our ideals. The struggle to overcome it has been a defining part of our
    history. Racial and ethnic differences continue to divide and bedevil
    millions around the world. And as we become an ever more pluralistic
    society with people from every racial and ethnic group calling America
    home, our own future depends upon laying down the bitter fruits of
    hatred and lifting up the rich texture of our diversity and our common
    humanity.
        We're not there yet, as we often see in the tragic stories in the
    news. Just last week in Chicago, a 13-year-old boy, riding his bike home
    from a basketball game, was brutally attacked and almost beaten to
    death, apparently for no other reason but the color of his skin. Lenard
    Clark is black; the young men accused of attacking him are white. This
    weekend, I hope all Americans join Hillary and me in a prayer for Lenard
    and his family.
        There is never an excuse for violence against innocent citizens. But
    this kind of savage, senseless assault, driven by nothing but hate,
    strikes at the very heart of America's ideals and threatens the promise
    of our future, no matter which racial or ethnic identity, the attackers'
    or the victim's. We must stand together as a nation against all crimes
    of hate and say they are wrong. We must condemn hate crimes whenever
    they happen. We must commit ourselves to prevent them from happening
    again. And we must sow the seeds of harmony and respect among our
    people.
        And let's be honest with ourselves: racism in America is not
    confined to acts of physical violence. Every day, African-Americans and
    other minorities are forced to endure quiet acts of racism, bigoted
    remarks, housing and job discrimination. Even many people who think they
    are not being racist still hold to negative stereotypes and sometimes
    act on them. These acts may not harm the body, but when a mother and her
    child go to the grocery store and are followed around by a suspicious
    clerk, it does violence to their souls. We must stand against such quiet
    hatred just as surely as we condemn acts of physical violence, like
    those against Lenard Clark.
        At the same time, black Americans must not look at the faces of
    Lenard Clark's attackers and see the face of white America. The acts of
    a few people must never become an excuse for blanket condemnation, for
    bigotry begins with stereotyping--stereotyping blacks and whites, Jews
    and Arabs, Hispanics and Native Americans, Asians, immigrants in
    general. It is all too common today, but it is still wrong.
        In Chicago, we see leaders of different races and political
    philosophies coming together to decry the crime against Lenard Clark.
    That is good, and it is reason for hope.
        The holidays of this season teach us that hope can spring forth from
    the darkest of times. Those of us who are Christians celebrate a risen
    God who died a painful, very human death to redeem the souls of all
    humanity without regard to race or station.
        So as families come together to celebrate Easter and Passover, as
    parents reunite with their children, their brothers and sisters, and
    friends with each other, let us all take time to search our souls. Let
    us find the strength to reach across the lines that divide us on the
    surface and touch the common spirit that resides in every human heart.
        And let us also remember there are some Americans who feel isolated
    from all of the rest of us in other ways, sometimes with truly tragic
    consequences, like the events just outside San

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    Diego which have so stunned us all this week. Our prayers are with their
    families as well.
        In this season of reflection, we must find kinship in our common
    humanity. In this season of renewal, we must renew our pledge to make
    America one Nation under God. In this season of redemption, we must all
    rise up above our differences to walk forward together on common ground,
    toward common dreams.
        Thanks for listening.

    Note: The address was recorded at 11:50 a.m. on March 28 in the
    Roosevelt Room at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on March
    29. In his address, the President referred to the mass suicide of
    Heaven's Gate cult members discovered on March 26.