“In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - that these things are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.”

—  Barack Obama

2008, A More Perfect Union (March 2008)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 30, 2023. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American commun…" by Barack Obama?
Barack Obama photo
Barack Obama 1158
44th President of the United States of America 1961

Related quotes

Barack Obama photo
Joseph Priestley photo

“The more elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.”

Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) English theologian, chemist, educator, and political theorist
J.B. Priestley photo

“The more we elaborate our means of communication, the less we communicate.”

J.B. Priestley (1894–1984) English writer

Thoughts in the Wilderness (London: William Heinemann, 1957), p. 201.

Charles T. Canady photo

“If I am fortunate enough to be confirmed, we will turn the page on hate and close the door on discrimination by enforcing our federal civil rights laws.”

Kristen Clarke American lawyer

8 January 2021 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/08/an-all-star-lineup-doj/

Barack Obama photo

“We do have challenges with racial bias -- in our communities, in our criminal justice system, in our society -- the legacy of slavery and segregation. But the fact that we have open debates within America’s own democracy is what allows us to get better.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2016, Remarks to the People of Cuba (March 2016)
Context: We do have challenges with racial bias -- in our communities, in our criminal justice system, in our society -- the legacy of slavery and segregation. But the fact that we have open debates within America’s own democracy is what allows us to get better. In 1959, the year that my father moved to America, it was illegal for him to marry my mother, who was white, in many American states. When I first started school, we were still struggling to desegregate schools across the American South. But people organized; they protested; they debated these issues; they challenged government officials. And because of those protests, and because of those debates, and because of popular mobilization, I’m able to stand here today as an African-American and as President of the United States. That was because of the freedoms that were afforded in the United States that we were able to bring about change.

Alfred Denning, Baron Denning photo
Audre Lorde photo
Susan Elizabeth Phillips photo

Related topics