[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2002, Book I)]
[April 29, 2002]
[Pages 684-687]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]
Remarks Following a Discussion With Community Leaders in
South Central Los Angeles, California
April 29, 2002
The President: Well, thank you all very much, my fellow Americans.
I'm honored to be here. I want to thank you, John, very much for your leadership and your vision. It's nice
to see your mother here. My mother is still
telling me what to do, too. [Laughter] I'm sure you're listening.
[Laughter] So am I.
I want to thank you all for giving me a chance to come and just
share some thoughts with you about what's on my mind. I want to thank
Reverend Murray. I want to thank him for
riding back from the airport with me and sharing his thoughts and his
vision and his hope.
I want to thank John Mack. John's
reputation had preceded him and managed to even make it to the State of
Texas. [Laughter] He's a great leader of the Urban League, and I want to
thank him for his visionary and steadfast leadership. As John told me,
that in the aftermath of the civil unrest, this part of the world began
to rebuild, became a more hopeful place, and John quickly pointed out,
partly because of the leadership of the two men I just named. And I want
to thank them for being such solid citizens in a community that needed
leadership.
I want to thank, as well, Charles Kim and
Antonia Hernandez for inviting me and
helping set up what has been a very interesting and important discussion
for me. You see, the President is--can still learn. And I try to learn
and absorb what's best about America, so I can share it with other
Americans. And the spirit of the discussion we had was important for me
to see and hear. I wish all of America could have heard how optimistic
and hopeful people were.
These are folks from the religious community, community-based
community, the business leaders. We had bankers. We've got some
entrepreneurs that are--and I know a little something about
entrepreneur--the entrepreneurial spirit, and these were the
entrepreneurs' entrepreneur. [Laughter] I want to thank them for telling
me their stories.
You know, I firmly believe God is on the side of justice and
reconciliation. But as Martin Luther King said, ``God isn't going to do
it all by Himself.'' And I was with--I like to put it this way, that
these good folks are soldiers in the armies of compassion. We had some
generals; we had some sergeants; we had some privates; but all of them a
part of this army; all of them anxious to make the American experience
extend throughout all neighborhoods. And I feel the same way.
I fully understand that 10 years ago this city, because of some
violence--a lot of violence--saw incredible destruction in
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lives and in property. Mr. Kim was talking about
the dashed dreams of many of the Korean entrepreneurs. A lot of hopes
were lost. The violence and the lawlessness always affects the most
poor, always hurts the weakest. And yet out of this violence and
ugliness came new hope, and we discussed that today.
I want to congratulate this city. Mr. Mayor, you're the mayor of a great city. And I want to
congratulate the leaders here and the people here, to show the rest of
the country what is possible, what can happen, what is possible in
America when people put aside differences and focus on what's best for
all.
And that's what I heard today at the table. We talked about economic
development. I believe strongly it's important for people to learn to
own, own their own business. And we talked about the hurdles between
ownership and reality and what the Government can do about those
hurdles. I heard from bankers talking about the CRA and how to make that
more effective. I heard from shopping center developers who believe
strongly and understand fully that investment in south central L.A. is,
first and foremost, good business policy. And it obviously is good
social policy as well. And I want to thank them for sharing that with
me.
I heard about the renaissance program. More than once did I hear
about it. [Laughter] I was about ready to sign up. [Laughter]
We talked about education. I like to put it this way: Reading is the
new civil right. Because if you can't read, you cannot possibly be
educated, and if you're not educated, you can't succeed. And so in order
to make sure that everybody--and I mean everybody; I don't care how you
vote--everybody gets a shot, we've got to make sure that everybody gets
educated.
And there is a role for the Federal Government to play. We fund, and
that's important. But I firmly believe that the Federal Government and
local governments must expect the best from every child--I mean the
best. Every child can learn. I refuse to accept a system that quits on
certain children because it's deemed--they're deemed to be too hard to
educate. We must determine as a society whether our children are
learning or not. And if they're not, we've got to insist upon change. We
can't have a system that just simply shuffles children through. That's
got to end if we're going to make sure that every child gets educated in
America.
I am passionate on the subject of education. I also am wise enough
to know that all wisdom doesn't exist in Washington, DC. We can write a
pretty good check, but we ought not to be telling the local folks how to
chart the path to excellence. We ought to be encouraging educational and
social entrepreneurs to get involved with the education of every single
child. And when there's failure, we need to blow the whistle on failure.
And when we find success, we need to praise success.
We talked about after-school programs. Big Lou Dantzler was talking about the Challengers Boys and Girls Clubs,
and I want to thank Lou for his leadership.
We talked about--we talked about faith and the importance of faith
in our society. Now, I don't want Government to be the church, and I
don't want the church to be the Government. But Government should not
fear faith and faith-based programs. Government should not worry about
programs that come out of church or synagogue or a mosque, all aimed at
loving a neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself. The
universal call to love is something to be nourished, not feared.
And I--there is a role for Government. When we fund programs, we
ought not to discriminate against faith-based programs, and we ought not
to cause the faith-based program to have to change its mission in order
to receive any money. Otherwise it won't be a faith-based program. It
will fall into the old Government program. See,
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Government can hand out money, but Government cannot put hope in
people's hearts. It cannot put faith in people's lives. And faith is a
powerful--faith is a powerful motivator. Many a program relies upon
faith, and we ought to welcome the faith-based programs into the
compassionate delivery of help.
I know firsthand. I know what faith can mean in somebody's life.
That's why I remind people, I'm just a humble sinner who sought
redemption. And I--[applause].
Audience member. Preach, Mr. President. [Laughter]
The President. Well, I don't want to get too far. [Laughter]
Audience member. Well--[laughter].
The President. You know, we have a chance to show the world that out
of the evil that was done on September the 11th can come incredible
good. I believe that; I truly do. I believe that by being firm and tough
when it comes to hunting down killers, that eventually we can help bring
peace to the world. That is my goal. I want the children and their
children's children to grow up in a peaceful world. And I think we can
do that; I do.
And we can show the world the true face of America as well. Oh, it's
a diverse face, no question about it, which is our strength, not our
weakness. But it's a face that can be bound by common goals and common
values. It's a face that can stand squarely in the face of evil by the
collective acts of people doing good in America.
And that's what I heard today. The great hope of the country really
isn't the Government. The great hope of the country lies in the hearts
and souls of our people. You've showed it in this community. Ten years
after civil unrest that made history, the community is rebuilding
herself with great hope and great promise.
And that's an important lesson. It's an important lesson not only
for other communities; it's an important lesson for our whole country,
because out of the evil that was done on September the 11th can come
incredible good. And it's happening.
So my job as the President is to rally--rally the spirit of the
Nation, and to thank those who are integrally involved in helping people
help themselves. I want to thank John again for such a kind invitation.
I am so honored that you would invite me, a Texan--[laughter]--to come
right here to L.A. and to herald what is possible.
You know, we live in a great country--I mean, the greatest country
on the face of the Earth. I'm proud of America. I'm proud of our
country. I'm proud of what we stand for. Oh, I know there's pockets of
despair. That just means we've got to work harder. It means you can't
quit. That means we've got to rout it out with love and compassion and
decency. But this is the greatest country on the face of the Earth. And
it is such an honor to be the President of such a great land.
Thank you all for coming today. May God bless you. May God bless
America.
Note: The President spoke at 4:01 p.m. in the Media Center at the First
African Methodist Episcopal Renaissance Center. In his remarks, he
referred to John Bryant, founder, chairman of the board, and chief
executive officer, Operation HOPE, Inc.; Juanita Smith, Mr. Bryant's
mother; Rev. Cecil L. Murray, senior minister, First African Methodist
Episcopal Church of Los Angeles; John W. Mack, president, Los Angeles
Urban League; Charles Kim, executive director, Korean American
Coalition, Los Angeles; Antonia Hernandez, president and general
counsel, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund; Mayor James
K. Hahn of Los Angeles; and Lou Dantzler, president and chief executive
officer, Challengers Boys & Girls Club.
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