[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 14 (Monday, April 7, 1997)]
[Page 430]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
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 of the 
attackers or the victims. 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.

[[Page 430]]

    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 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.