    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1999, Book I)]
    [February 3, 1999]
    [Pages 158-159]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for the ``Marching Toward
    Justice'' Exhibit
    February 3, 1999

        Thank you very much. Judge Keith, it's
    good to be in your presence again. Mrs. Marshall; Rosa Parks; Mr. Hill, I'm honored to be in your presence, sir.
    President Swygert, President Reid, Mr. Mecham; to
    Congressman Clyburn and members of the
    Congressional Black Caucus

    [[Page 159]]

    and any other Members of Congress who may be here; Mr. Holder, Mr. Lee, and Justice
    Department officials who are here; to all the members of the White House
    staff, but especially Thurgood Marshall, Jr. I thank you for permitting me to be a small part of this
    momentous day.
        ``We are all created equal,'' the simplest, most powerful idea about
    human beings ever articulated. Our history is largely the story of
    Americans of courage and vision who have stepped forward, often at risk
    to their lives, to lead us in our ongoing march toward justice and
    equality. I thank you for chronicling their journey in this exhibit.
        Perhaps no one in this century did more to open the doors to ``the
    glorious temple of American liberty'' than the man we honor and remember
    tonight, Justice Thurgood Marshall. You honor with this exhibit the
    courage of a man who traveled to towns of the segregated South, places
    where he couldn't find a bite to eat when he was hungry, a bed to rest
    when he was tired, a police officer's protection when he was threatened.
    He did all that to argue that we are all created equal.
        We honor the genius of a man who masterminded a strategy to
    dismantle Jim Crow, case by case, trial by trial, decision by decision,
    from Baltimore to Topeka to Little Rock to the United States Supreme
    Court.
        The 14th amendment, with its promise of equal protection under law,
    was Thurgood Marshall's sword and shield. It was pretty moribund when he
    began to work on it, but he breathed life into it and transformed it
    into a living charter of freedom. The legacy of the 14th amendment--the
    legacy of Justice Marshall, the legacy of his mentor, Charles Houston,
    his colleagues such as Wiley Branton and Jack Greenberg and Oliver Hill,
    the legacy of others we have lost, like that great lion, Leon
    Higginbotham, our friend--that legacy can be seen every day, everywhere
    in America, in classrooms, in libraries, in restaurants, and in the
    lives and careers of so many of the men and women standing here tonight.
        Because the road to freedom and justice is long and never ends, we
    can honor Thurgood Marshall best not only with grand buildings and
    museum exhibits but with great vision and vigorous action, to make
    equality ever more real and discrimination that some day will be
    something that can only be found in museum exhibits. No one should be
    denied a home or a job, a world-class education or equal pay for equal
    work or, indeed, any part of the American dream, because of race or
    disability or gender or sexual orientation or religion.
        During some of the darkest days of Jim Crow, a single phrase
    whispered in African-American communities all across the South would
    give hope to millions: ``Thurgood is coming.'' Today, at the dawn of a
    new century, it is up to each and every one of us to ensure that
    Thurgood is still coming.
        So let us pick up his sword and his shield and fight for that more
    perfect Union, that one America that was his great and lasting gift to
    all of us.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 7:15 p.m. in the atrium at the Thurgood
    Marshall Federal Judiciary Building. In his remarks, he referred to
    Judge Damon J. Keith, U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit; Justice
    Marshall's widow, Cecilia Marshall; Rosa Parks, civil rights activist;
    Oliver White Hill, attorney who worked with Justice Marshall at the
    NAACP Legal Defense Fund; H. Patrick Swygert, president, Howard
    University; and Irvin D. Reid, president, Wayne State University.