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NAACP Fundraising 12/15/89 [OA 3540] [1]
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6
6
6
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 :12-13-89 ; 6:04PM ;
2024562397->
2024566218:# 1
THE WHITE HOUSE
EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
FACSIMILE TRANSMITTAL SHEET
TO
DATE:
Kristin Gear
TO:
FROM:
Mannie Harnes
PHONE:
COMMENTS
HHS only had a suggestion that
it would be good to confront the issue
NUMBER OF PAGES, EXCLUDING COVER SHEET
of around racial tension it. / rather than tiptoeing
SENT BY:Xerox Telecopier 7020 12-13-89 ; 6:05PM ;
2024562397->
2024566218:# 2
4
been narrowed by the rate of progress. Since 1981, black
employment has grown 27 percent -- nearly twice the 15 percent
growth in white employment. Between 1981 and 1988, the real
median income for black families has grown 12 percent,
with 10.5 percent for white families. Bureau of labonStatistics 10.8%
states it 5
Some would say this signals the victory of the War on
Poverty. But we know better. It was in 1965 that Lyndon Johnson
declared his war -- a war of liberation -- a war he said was a
struggle not to simply support people, but a struggle to give
people a chance. It was a noble effort, but despite of all the
good news I just relayed to you, the War on Poverty fell short.
It fell short because the cruelest forms of poverty cannot be
fought with dollars alone.
First and foremost -- there is a poverty of the spirit.
Government can't teach young men and women to have faith in
themselves if their mothers and fathers have lost all faith.
Government can't teach that achievement is to be found in quiet
moments and subtle rewards, instead of the murderous materialism
of easy drug money. But, in a new solidarity, we can teach these
values -- as leaders, as parents, as communities working with our
churches.
Let me give you another example of another form of poverty -
- the higher incidence of disease and early death in the black
community is at kind of poverty, a poverty of health. Cancer,
strokes, heart disease -- all afflict black Americans in greater
proportions. This shameful disparity in the health of black
NAACP FUNDRAISER I WALDORF ASTORIA, NEW YORK
FRIDAY DEC. 15, 1989 \ 8:00 P.M.
THANK YOU, BEN, FOR THAT GRACIOUS INTRODUCTION.
SECRETARY SULLIVAN, GINGER, JOHN AND PATRICIA KLUGE
((KLu-GEE)), BEN AND FRANCES HooK, MAYOR-TO-BE DAVID
DINKINS, GOVERNOR-ELECT DOUG WILDER, CONGRATULATIONS ON
YOUR VICTORIES. STEVIE WONDER, THE DUKE ELLINGTON
BAND, THANK YOU FOR THE TUNES. NEW YORK AT
CHRISTMASTIME HAS A CERTAIN MAGIC -- ESPECIALLY DECKED
OUT IN ITS FINEST MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET LOOK.
- 2 -
((You KNOW, FOR TWO YEARS, WHEN I WAS AMBASSADOR TO
THE UNITED NATIONS, BARBARA AND I LIVED IN THIS VERY
HOTEL, IN ROOM 42 A. AND WHENEVER I COMPLAINED ABOUT
ANYTHING, BARBARA WOULD JUST ROLL HER EYES AND SAY:
"JUST WHERE DO YOU THINK WE LIVE? THE WALDORF
ASTORIA?"))\\
THIS IS A TIME WHEN AMERICANS FROM DIFFERENT
PROFESSIONS AND POLITICAL PARTIES CAN CELEBRATE COMMON
IDEALS.
- 3 -
NOWHERE ARE THESE IDEALS MORE VISIBLE THAN IN THE
COMMITMENT AND SOCIAL CONCERNS OF THIS GREAT
ASSOCIATION. SINCE THE EARLY DAYS OF THE NIAGARA
MOVEMENT, FOR EIGHTY YEARS, THE NAACP HAS PROVIDED
LEADERSHIP -- NOT JUST FOR ONE PEOPLE WITHIN AMERICA --
BUT FOR ALL OF AMERICA. 11
YOUR LEADERSHIP WAS BORN OF TROUBLED TIMES, AND
SHARPENED BY ADVERSITY. You've KNOWN PERSECUTION, AND
THROUGH IT, YOU GAINED COMPASSION.
- 4 -
You've BEEN WITHOUT POWER, AND THROUGH IT, YOU WON
EMPOWERMENT. You've SUFFERED THE IGNORANCE AND BIGOTRY
OF SMALL MINDS, AND INSTEAD, YOU BUILT PRIDE AND
RESPECT. 11
Go To MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA, TODAY. STAND BEFORE THE
GRANITE WALL OF THE NEW CIVIL RIGHTS MEMORIAL. AND
THROUGH A VEIL OF FLOWING WATER YOU WILL READ THESE
WORDS FROM THE BIBLE: "
LET JUDGMENT RUN DOWN AS
WATERS, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS AS A MIGHTY STREAM. "\\
- 5 -
LIKE A MIGHTY RIVER, JUSTICE CAN CUT A CHANNEL
THROUGH THE HARDEST OF STONE. LIKE A MIGHTY RIVER
SEEKING THE SEA, JUSTICE WILL, IN THE END, FIND
FULFILLMENT. IT HAS BEEN SLOW IN COMING. IT HAS BEEN
IMPEDED. BUT ITS JOURNEY IS INEXORABLE BECAUSE JUSTICE
CANNOT BE DENIED. 11
ON NOVEMBER 17, I MET WITH BEN AND THE LEADERS OF
THE BLACK LEADERSHIP COUNCIL. You CHALLENGED ME WITH
THE HIGHEST IDEALS OF YOUR MOVEMENT.
- 6 -
Now LET ME CHALLENGE YOU TO WORK WITH OUR
ADMINISTRATION, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD, ON A CAMPAIGN TO
BUILD A BETTER AMERICA. 11
I SEEK A NEW PARTNERSHIP, ONE THAT DRAWS
INSPIRATION FROM ACHIEVEMENTS BOTH HOME AND ABROAD -- I
SPEAK OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOLIDARITY MOVEMENTS.
- 7 -
FOR AFTER ALL, FROM THE COUNTRY ROADS OF SELMA TWENTY
YEARS AGO TO THE CITY STREETS OF EASTERN EUROPE TODAY,
A COMMON REFRAIN ECHOES THROUGH THE HISTORY OF OUR
TIMES: "WE SHALL OVERCOME." HAS THE WORLD KNOWN MORE
IMPROBABLE HEROES THAN ROSA PARKS AND LECH WALESA? BUT
HEROES THEY ARE.
- 8 -
So LET US EMULATE THEM BY WORKING TOGETHER. FOR IN
SOLIDARITY, WE CAN REASONABLY HOPE THAT WE WILL FINALLY
ATTAIN THE FONDEST DREAM OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE NAACP
-- A SOCIETY BLIND TO BIGOTRY, A SOCIETY OPEN TO ALL. 11
THE FIGHT AGAINST DISCRIMINATION HAS BEEN THE
HISTORIC MISSION OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT -- A
MISSION THAT HAS SEEN GREAT SUCCESS, BUT A MISSION THAT
HAS YET TO BE COMPLETELY FULFILLED. WE KNOW THAT
PREJUDICE AND RACIAL TENSIONS STILL EXIST IN AMERICA.
- 9 -
THAT IS WHY I SUPPORT, AND INTEND TO SIGN INTO LAW, A
MEASURE TO COLLECT AS MUCH INFORMATION AS WE CAN ON
CRIMES MOTIVATED BY RELIGIOUS, RACIAL OR ETHNIC
ANIMOSITY -- THE HATE CRIMES BILL.
AND THAT IS WHY I WORKED WITH THE CONGRESS IN A
BIPARTISAN EFFORT TO REAUTHORIZE THE COMMISSION ON
CIVIL RIGHTS. 11
- 10 -
I WILL APPOINT TO THAT COMMISSION MEN AND WOMEN WHO
WILL FIGHT AGAINST DISCRIMINATION, AND FIGHT FOR THE
CIVIL RIGHTS OF ALL AMERICANS. 11 You HAVE MY WORD ON
IT.
BUT THERE ARE OTHER MISSIONS FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS
MOVEMENT IN THE 1990s. FROM NOW ON, THE PROTECTION OF
CIVIL RIGHTS MUST ALSO MEAN THE REMOVAL OF ALL BARRIERS
TO OPPORTUNITY.
- 11 -
OF COURSE, WE CAN BE THANKFUL THAT MANY BLACK AMERICANS
ENJOYED / ENORMOUS EMPLOYMENT AND INCOME GAINS DURING THE
1980s. BUT THERE ARE FORMS OF POVERTY THAT CANNOT BE
MEASURED OR SOLVED BY DOLLARS ALONE.
FIRST AND FOREMOST -- THERE IS A POVERTY OF THE
SPIRIT. GOVERNMENT CAN'T TEACH YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN TO
HAVE FAITH IN THEMSELVES IF THEIR MOTHERS AND FATHERS
HAVE LOST ALL FAITH.
- 12 -
GOVERNMENT CAN'T TEACH THAT ACHIEVEMENT IS TO BE FOUND
IN QUIET MOMENTS AND SUBTLE REWARDS, INSTEAD OF THE
MURDEROUS MATERIALISM OF EASY DRUG MONEY. BUT, IN A
NEW SOLIDARITY, WE CAN INSTILL THESE VALUES. WE CAN
CULTIVATE CHARACTER -- AS LEADERS, AS PARENTS, AS
TEACHERS, AS COMMUNITIES WORKING WITH OUR CHURCHES.
- 13 -
AND THERE ARE OTHER FORMS OF POVERTY. WHEN PEOPLE,
GOING ABOUT THE ORDINARY BUSINESS OF THEIR LIVES --
WAITING FOR A BUS, WALKING TO A CORNER GROCERY STORE --
MUST FEAR FOR THEIR LIVES --THEN FEAR HAS STOLEN A MOST
PRECIOUS POSSESSION -- FREEDOM. LAST WEEK, IN HOUSTON,
I SAW SUCH A COMMUNITY WHEN I REVISITED THE DISTRICT I
REPRESENTED AS A CONGRESSMAN.
- 14
I ALSO SAW A COMMUNITY THAT HAD ENOUGH OF FEAR, HAD
ENOUGH OF CRIME, HAD ENOUGH OF DOPE. You AND I MUST
MARCH WITH THEM, SIDE BY SIDE, BLOCK BY BLOCK, CITY BY
CITY. 11
- 15 -
THEN THERE IS YET ANOTHER KIND OF POVERTY, A
GROWING POVERTY OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS. MANY YOUNG
MEN AND WOMEN IN THIS COUNTRY -- WHITE, AS WELL AS
BLACK -- ARE SIMPLY NOT LEARNING -- NOT LEARNING -- THE
BASIC SKILLS THEY NEED TO HOLD DOWN A JOB OR TO RAISE A
FAMILY. THAT IS A NATIONAL DISGRACE. 11
To PROVIDE OPPORTUNITY TO OUR YOUNG PEOPLE, WE NEED
NEW AND INNOVATIVE ECONOMIC TOOLS. THE TRAINING WAGE,
JUST PASSED BY CONGRESS, IS ONE SUCH TOOL.
16 Il I
BUT WE NEED MORE, MUCH MORE, FROM MERIT PAY, TO MAGNET
SCHOOLS, TO MORE EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS TO FIGHT
ILLITERACY.
I WISH I COULD GO ON, BECAUSE WHAT IS IN MY HEART
IS GREATER THAN MY ABILITY TO VOICE IT TONIGHT. BUT IT
ALL COMES DOWN THIS: To TAKE THE LEAD, YOUNG AMERICANS
MUST BE HEALTHY, IN BODY AND MIND. THEY MUST BE READY,
IN KNOWLEDGE AND PURPOSE.
- 17 -
THEY MUST HAVE OPPORTUNITY. THAT WE MUST PROVIDE THEM.
LET US WORK TOGETHER TO DO JUST THAT.
AND FINALLY, AND UNEQUIVOCALLY, THEY MUST BE FREE
FROM DISCRIMINATION. I WILL USE MY NOBLE OFFICE TO
SPEAK OUT AGAINST BIGOTRY AND DISCRIMINATION. III
I SPOKE EARLIER OF THE BIBLICAL PROVERB. THAT
COMPARED RIGHTEOUSNESS TO A MIGHTY STREAM.
- 18 -
THIS SAME VISION CAN BE FOUND IN A POEM BY LANGSTON
HUGHES, WHO COMPARED THE ODYSSEY OF BLACK MEN AND WOMEN
TO THE CROSSING OF MANY RIVERS. AND WITH EACH
CROSSING, THEIR SOULS HAVE GROWN DEEP -- DEEP, LIKE THE
RIVERS.
THIS ODYSSEY SHAPED THE SOUL OF A PEOPLE, AND
BECAUSE OF YOUR LEADERSHIP, IT ALSO SHAPED THE SOUL OF
OUR NATION. GOD BLESS YOU, GOD BLESS AMERICA -- AND
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL.
#
#
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
1989 DEC 14 P.Y 1:09
THE PRESIDENT HAS SEEN
Dec. 14, 1989
INFORMATION
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
Sat
Through:
CHRISS WINSTON
From:
MARK DAVIS MD
Subject:
NAACP Dinner
I. SUMMARY: You will address more than a thousand people =
major donors, CEOs and NAACP leaders -- before dinner, at the
Waldorf Astoria at 8 p.m., Friday, Dec. 15. This is a
fundraising event, marking the NAACP's 80th year. At the moment,
you are scheduled to be introduced by Bill Cosby. Music will be
provided by Stevie Wonder and Lionel Hampton. Your remarks will
be teleprompted.
II. DISCUSSION: This speech discusses the whole array of
Administration initiatives on civil rights, housing, drugs and
crime, health and the struggle for opportunity.
Davis/Martin
Title: NAACP
Dec. 14, 1989
Draft: Five
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: NAACP FUNDRAISING, WALDORF, NEW YORK
8 p.m. Friday, December 15, 1989
( (Maybe we should take our act on the road. They can bill
us as: "The Coz and Mister Smooth. OR "chavisma 2 (squoved
Ben Hooks, good to see you again. David Dinkins, Doug
Wilder, congratulations on your victories. Governor Cuomo, great
to be back in New York ( (other acknowledgements to come. ) )
Lionel Hampton -- thank you. Good vibes from myclose
friend.
for 2 years
( (You know when I was ambassador to the United Nations,
Barbara and I lived in this very hotel, in room 42 A. And
whenever I complained about anything, Barbara would just roll her
eyes and say: "Just where do you think we live? The Waldorf
Astoria?"))\\
All in all, this is a wonderful evening, a time when
Americans from different professions and political parties can
come together to celebrate common ideals.
Nowhere are these ideals more visible than in the commitment
and social concerns of this great association. Since the early
days of the Niagara Movement, the NAACP has challenged the
conscience of a nation. You have provided leadership -- not just
for one people within America -- but for all of America.
2
Your leadership was born of troubled times, and sharpened by
adversity. You've known persecution, and through it, you gained
compassion. You've been without power, and through it, you won
empowerment. You've suffered the ignorance and bigotry of small
minds, and because of them, you built pride and respect.
Go to Montgomery, Alabama, today. Stand before the granite
wall of the new civil rights memorial. And through a veil of
flowing water you will read these words from the Bible:
"
let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty
stream.
Like a mighty river, justice can cut a channel through the
hardest of stone. Like a mighty river seeking the sea, justice
will, in the end, find fulfillment. It has been slow in coming.
It has been impeded. But its journey is inexorable because
justice cannot be denied.
Helped by
Joo much
Because of the activism of the NAACP, justice is on the
rise
On November 17, I met with Ben and the leaders of the
other major civil rights organizations. You challenged me with
the highest ideals of your movement. Now let me challenge you to
work with me and my Administration, from this day forward, on a
campaign to build a better America.
I seek a new partnership, one that draws inspiration from
the achievement of the civil rights and Solidarity movements.
For after all, from the country roads of Selma twenty years ago
to the city streets of Eastern Europe today, a common refrain
echoes through the history of our times: "We shall overcome."
3
Has the world known more improbable heroes than Rosa Parks and
Lech Walesa? But make no mistake, heroes they are.
So let us emulate them by working together. For in
solidarity, we can reasonably hope that we will finally attain
the fondest dream of the founders of the NAACP -- a society blind
to bigotry, a society open to all.
The fight against discrimination has been the historic
mission of the civil rights movement -- a mission that has seen
great success, but a mission that has yet to be completely
fulfilled. We know that prejudice and racial tensions still
exist in America. That is why I support, and intend to sign into
law, a.measure to collect as much information as we can on crimes
motivated by religious, racial or ethnic animosity -- the Hate
Crimes Bill.
And that is why I worked with the Congress in a bipartisan
effort to reauthorize the Commission on Civil Rights. I will
appoint to that Commission men and women who will fight against
discrimination, and fight for the civil rights of all
Americans. \\
But there are other missions for the civil rights movement
in the 1990s. From now on, the protection of civil rights must
also mean the removal of all barriers to opportunity.
Of course, the barriers to opportunity for black Americans
were much more prevalent in the past, even in the recent past.
From 1973 to 1981, black employment growth lagged behind that of
whites. And real black income declined sharply between 1973 to
4
1981 -- even as government was spending more on new social
programs.
But black Americans have enjoyed enormous employment and
income gains during the 1980s. Disparities remain, but they've
been narrowed by the rate of progress. Since 1981, black
employment has grown 27 percent -- nearly twice the 15 percent
growth in white employment. Between 1981 and 1988, the real
median income for black families has grown 12 percent, compared
with 10.8 percent for white families.
Some would say this signals the victory of the War on
Poverty But we know better It was in 1965 that Lyndon Johnson
declared his War a war of liberation -- a war he said was a
in Poverty
struggle not simply to support people, but a struggle to give
those promering
people a chance. It was a noble effort, but despite all the good
trues
news I just relayed to you, the War on Poverty fell short. It
fell short because the cruelest forms of poverty cannot be fought
with dollars alone.
First and foremost -- there is a poverty of the spirit.
Government can't teach young men and women to have faith in
themselves if their mothers and fathers have lost all faith.
Government can't teach that achievement is to be found in quiet
moments and subtle rewards, instead of the murderous materialism
of easy drug money. But, in a new solidarity, we can instill
these values. We can cultivate character -- as leaders, as
parents, as teachers, as communities working with our churches.
5
Let me give you another example of another form of poverty -
- the higher incidence of disease and early death in the black
community is a kind of poverty, a poverty of health. Cancer,
strokes, heart disease -- all afflict black Americans in greater
proportions. This unacceptable disparity in the health of black
Americans is the foremost concern of our Secretary of Health and
Human Services, Doctor Louis Sullivan. And so let us tonight
Dism
join in solidarity against disease and early death.
There are other forms of poverty. Many Americans lack
basic shelter and affordable housing. My HOPE initiative --
Homeownership and Opportunity for People Everywhere -- seeks
shelter for the homeless, affordable housing and homeownership
for low-income families, help for first-time home-buyers and up
to 50 new enterprise zones to create jobs in our most distressed
communities.
But opportunity in jobs and housing is not enough. When
people, going about the ordinary business of their lives --
waiting for a bus, walking to a corner grocery store -- must fear
for their lives -- then fear has stolen a most precious
possession -- freedom. And it is always these communities that
can least afford it, that are already economically depressed --
that are the most tragic victims of crime and drugs.
Last week, in Houston, I saw such a community when I
revisited the district I represented as a Congressman. I also
saw a community that had enough of fear, had enough of crime, had
enough of dope. Just as the people of Berlin are standing up for
6
freedom, so the people of this poor Houston neighborhood are
rallying together, using people power to fight for another kind
of freedom -- from crime, from drugs -- freedom from fear.
You've heard me speak of the thousand points of light.
Well, there is no brighter stars than those brave men and women
who lead their communities to stand up to drugs and crime. Their
journey to this freedom is long and hard. But you and I must
march with them in solidarity, side by side, block by block, city
by city. Let us declare tonight our new solidarity against crime
and drugs. \\
Then there is yet another kind of poverty, a growing poverty
of knowledge and skills.
Many young men and women in this country -white, as well as
black -- are simply not learning -- not learning -- the basic
skills they need to hold down a job or to raise a family. That
is a national disgrace.\ For the first time in history, we face
the prospect that the sons and daughters of America could be less
educated than their mothers and fathers. Well, let me tell you -
I
- that is unacceptable and this President is not going to sit by
and watch that happen.
Neither will American business, because business needs new
talent as never before. We are used to thinking of unemployment
as a case of too many people, and too few jobs -- a game of
musical chairs. All too often, it is minorities who are left
standing when the music stops.
7
But
in the years to come, our problem will be just the
opposite: more than enough jobs -- and too few people qualified
to fill them. New workers will be in demand -- and the simple
fact is that eight of every ten new workers will be women,
immigrants or minorities.
Think about what that means. For every child growing up
today -- black or white -- there will be a job waiting. The
question is whether they will have the education and the skills
to seize that opportunity. The new service and manufacturing
industries will require higher skills, more training and, at the
very least, literacy. Education -- quality education -- is a
prerequisite to making a decent living in America.
So we must work together, as never before, to reform our
schools. Our mission must be to find a way to bring knowledge
and enlightenment to a new generation of Americans. Let us stand
in solidarity for the liberation of young minds.
You know my proposals. First, I believe parents deserve
choice. They deserve the power to choose their children's child-
care, whether that means a grandparent or a church-affiliated
center. And then they deserve the power to choose their
children's school.
And where disadvantaged children are concerned, Congress
appropriated an increase of $151 million in the funding of Head
Start to serve up to 37,500 more eligible 4-year-olds. I want to
go further. I challenge Congress, when it reconvenes, to
8
?
increase Head Start funding by $250 million, to serve up to
95,000 more children.
To provide opportunity to our young people, we need new and
innovative economic tools. The training wage, just passed by
Congress, is one such tool. But we need more, much more, from
merit pay, to magnet schools, to more effective programs to fight
illiteracy. And I believe we need the steps we've taken this
year to strengthen and support the Historically Black Colleges
and Universities of America. Our proposals respond to the needs
of many communities -- of every color. They seek to provide
opportunity because civil rights means opportunity, and
opportunity requires education, safe streets, and a drug-free
community for all Americans. In each of these measures and so many
more, I want and need your active support, your solidarity.
( (Ben, as a Baptist minister, I'm sure you heard the story
of the young preacher who was well into a sermon and more than a
little nervous about how he was doing, when he noticed his wife
in the congregation holding up a little sign with the word "Kiss
scrawled on it. Inspired, he went on to speak for another half
hour, and afterwards, asked his wife what she thought of the
sermon. "Awful," she said "Don't you know what I mean by
'Kiss.' It stands for 'Keep It Short Stupid. '"))
So in this same spirit, I want to say something in
conclusion, but straight from the heart. In November, we started
a new era of cooperation, the first of many working sessions on
the problems that plague America. Now is no time for mere
9
politics. Now is the time to band together -- not for our sake -
- not for temporary partisan gain -- but in solidarity, for
generations to come.
When I talk to young people about what they want out of
life, one word keeps cropping up -- adventure. The generation
that is coming of age today is poised for a truly great
adventure. The world they will know will be as different from
today's world as ours is from that of W.E.B. Du Bois. Winds of
freedom are sweeping the globe. New democracies are being born.
Technology is leading us toward new worlds. And Americans must
be prepared, as never before, to provide the leadership for the
new century.
To take the lead, young Americans must be healthy, in body
and mind. They must be ready, in knowledge and purpose. They
must be free of soul-sapping poverty. And they must be free from
discrimination.
I spoke earlier of the Biblical proverb that compared
righteousness to a mighty stream. This same vision can be found
in a poem by Langston Hughes, who compared the odyssey of black
men and women to the crossing of many rivers. And with each
crossing, their souls have grown deep -- deep, like the rivers.
This odyssey shaped the soul of a people, and because of
your leadership, it also shaped the soul of our nation. Thank
you, God bless you, and God bless America.
#
#
#
Additions NAACP:
1.
Add Sec. Sullivan (Gnger)
John + Patricia Kluge (Klugee) - Personal friend
Ber Hooks (Frances)
Mayor - -Elect David Dynkins
No Cuomo
Gov-Elect Douglas Wilder
Duke Ellington - not /Lionel Hampton
2.
Add on" Nov. 17, I met with Ben + others
members of the Black Leadership Forem"
- -Roper+Porter Roper + Porter
S
3.
80th yr.
A
4.
Clarence Thomas- not in attendence
5.
Solidarity
6.
Boskin
NAACP FUNDRAISING
WALDORF, NEW YORK
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1989
8:00 P.M.
THANK YOU, BEN, FOR THAT GRACIOUS INTRODUCTION.
SECRETARY SULLIVAN, GINGER, JOHN AND PATRICIA
KLUGE ((KLU-GEE)), BEN AND FRANCES HOOK, MAYOR-TO-BE
DAVID DINKINS, GOVERNOR-ELECT DOUG WILDER,
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR VICTORIES. STEVIE WONDER, THE
DUKE ELLINGTON BAND, THANK YOU FOR THE TUNES. NEW YORK
AT CHRISTMASTIME HAS A CERTAIN MAGIC -- ESPECIALLY
DECKED OUT IN ITS FINEST MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET LOOK.
((YOU KNOW, FOR TWO YEARS, WHEN I WAS AMBASSADOR
TO THE UNITED NATIONS, BARBARA AND I LIVED IN THIS VERY
HOTEL, IN ROOM 42 A. AND WHENEVER I COMPLAINED ABOUT
ANYTHING, BARBARA WOULD JUST ROLL HER EYES AND SAY:
"JUST WHERE DO YOU THINK WE LIVE? THE WALDORF
ASTORIA?"))
- 2 -
THIS IS A TIME WHEN AMERICANS FROM DIFFERENT
PROFESSIONS AND POLITICAL PARTIES CAN CELEBRATE COMMON
IDEALS. NOWHERE ARE THESE IDEALS MORE VISIBLE THAN IN
THE COMMITMENT AND SOCIAL CONCERNS OF THIS GREAT
ASSOCIATION. SINCE THE EARLY DAYS OF THE NIAGARA
MOVEMENT, FOR EIGHTY YEARS, THE NAACP HAS PROVIDED
LEADERSHIP -- NOT JUST FOR ONE PEOPLE WITHIN AMERICA --
BUT FOR ALL OF AMERICA.
YOUR LEADERSHIP WAS BORN OF TROUBLED TIMES, AND
SHARPENED BY ADVERSITY. YOU'VE KNOWN PERSECUTION, AND
THROUGH IT, YOU GAINED COMPASSION. YOU'VE BEEN WITHOUT
POWER, AND THROUGH IT, YOU WON EMPOWERMENT. YOU'VE
SUFFERED THE IGNORANCE AND BIGOTRY OF SMALL MINDS, AND
INSTEAD, YOU BUILT PRIDE AND RESPECT. 11
GO TO MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA, TODAY. STAND BEFORE
THE GRANITE WALL OF THE NEW CIVIL RIGHTS MEMORIAL. AND
THROUGH A VEIL OF FLOWING WATER YOU WILL READ THESE
WORDS FROM THE BIBLE:
=
LET JUDGMENT RUN DOWN AS
WATERS, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS AS A MIGHTY STREAM. "\\
- 3 -
LIKE A MIGHTY RIVER, JUSTICE CAN CUT A CHANNEL
THROUGH THE HARDEST OF STONE. LIKE A MIGHTY RIVER
SEEKING THE SEA, JUSTICE WILL, IN THE END, FIND
FULFILLMENT. IT HAS BEEN SLOW IN COMING. IT HAS BEEN
IMPEDED. BUT ITS JOURNEY IS INEXORABLE BECAUSE JUSTICE
CANNOT BE DENIED.
ON NOVEMBER 17, I MET WITH BEN AND THE LEADERS OF
THE BLACK LEADERSHIP COUNCIL. YOU CHALLENGED ME WITH
THE HIGHEST IDEALS OF YOUR MOVEMENT. NOW LET ME
CHALLENGE YOU TO WORK WITH OUR ADMINISTRATION, FROM
THIS DAY FORWARD, ON A CAMPAIGN TO BUILD A BETTER
AMERICA.
I SEEK A NEW PARTNERSHIP, ONE THAT DRAWS
INSPIRATION FROM ACHIEVEMENTS BOTH HOME AND ABROAD -- I
SPEAK OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS AND SOLIDARITY MOVEMENTS.
FOR AFTER ALL, FROM THE COUNTRY ROADS OF SELMA TWENTY
YEARS AGO TO THE CITY STREETS OF EASTERN EUROPE TODAY,
A COMMON REFRAIN ECHOES THROUGH THE HISTORY OF OUR
TIMES: "WE SHALL OVERCOME." HAS THE WORLD KNOWN MORE
IMPROBABLE HEROES THAN ROSA PARKS AND LECH WALESA? BUT
HEROES THEY ARE.
- 4 -
SO LET US EMULATE THEM BY WORKING TOGETHER. FOR
IN SOLIDARITY, WE CAN REASONABLY HOPE THAT WE WILL
FINALLY ATTAIN THE FONDEST DREAM OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE
NAACP -- A SOCIETY BLIND TO BIGOTRY, A SOCIETY OPEN TO
ALL.
THE FIGHT AGAINST DISCRIMINATION HAS BEEN THE
HISTORIC MISSION OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT -- A
MISSION THAT HAS SEEN GREAT SUCCESS, BUT A MISSION THAT
HAS YET TO BE COMPLETELY FULFILLED. WE KNOW THAT
PREJUDICE AND RACIAL TENSIONS STILL EXIST IN AMERICA.
THAT IS WHY I SUPPORT, AND INTEND TO SIGN INTO LAW, A
MEASURE TO COLLECT AS MUCH INFORMATION AS WE CAN ON
CRIMES MOTIVATED BY RELIGIOUS, RACIAL OR ETHNIC
ANIMOSITY -- THE HATE CRIMES BILL.
AND THAT IS WHY I WORKED WITH THE CONGRESS IN A
BIPARTISAN EFFORT TO REAUTHORIZE THE COMMISSION ON
CIVIL RIGHTS. 11 I WILL APPOINT TO THAT COMMISSION MEN
AND WOMEN WHO WILL FIGHT AGAINST DISCRIMINATION, AND
FIGHT FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF ALL AMERICANS. 11 YOU
HAVE MY WORD ON IT.
- 5 -
BUT THERE ARE OTHER MISSIONS FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS
MOVEMENT IN THE 1990's. FROM NOW ON, THE PROTECTION OF
CIVIL RIGHTS MUST ALSO MEAN THE REMOVAL OF ALL BARRIERS
TO OPPORTUNITY. OF COURSE, WE CAN BE THANKFUL THAT
MANY BLACK AMERICANS ENJOYED ENORMOUS EMPLOYMENT AND
INCOME GAINS DURING THE 1980's. BUT THERE ARE FORMS OF
POVERTY THAT CANNOT BE MEASURED OR SOLVED BY DOLLARS
ALONE.
FIRST AND FOREMOST -- THERE IS A POVERTY OF THE
SPIRIT. GOVERNMENT CAN'T TEACH YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN TO
HAVE FAITH IN THEMSELVES IF THEIR MOTHERS AND FATHERS
HAVE LOST ALL FAITH. GOVERNMENT CAN'T TEACH THAT
ACHIEVEMENT IS TO BE FOUND IN QUIET MOMENTS AND SUBTLE
REWARDS, INSTEAD OF THE MURDEROUS MATERIALISM OF EASY
DRUG MONEY. BUT, IN A NEW SOLIDARITY, WE CAN INSTILL
THESE VALUES. WE CAN CULTIVATE CHARACTER -- AS
LEADERS, AS PARENTS, AS TEACHERS, AS COMMUNITIES
WORKING WITH OUR CHURCHES.
- 6 -
AND THERE ARE OTHER FORMS OF POVERTY. WHEN
PEOPLE, GOING ABOUT THE ORDINARY BUSINESS OF THEIR
LIVES -- WAITING FOR A BUS, WALKING TO A CORNER GROCERY
STORE -- MUST FEAR FOR THEIR LIVES -- THEN FEAR HAS
STOLEN A MOST PRECIOUS POSSESSION -- FREEDOM. LAST
WEEK, IN HOUSTON, I SAW SUCH A COMMUNITY WHEN I
REVISITED THE DISTRICT I REPRESENTED AS A CONGRESSMAN.
I ALSO SAW A COMMUNITY THAT HAD ENOUGH OF FEAR, HAD
ENOUGH OF CRIME, HAD ENOUGH OF DOPE. YOU AND I MUST
MARCH WITH THEM, SIDE BY SIDE, BLOCK BY BLOCK, CITY BY
CITY.
THEN THERE IS YET ANOTHER KIND OF POVERTY, A
GROWING POVERTY OF KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS. MANY YOUNG
MEN AND WOMEN IN THIS COUNTRY -- WHITE, AS WELL AS
BLACK -- ARE SIMPLY NOT LEARNING -- NOT LEARNING -- THE
BASIC SKILLS THEY NEED TO HOLD DOWN A JOB OR TO RAISE A
FAMILY. THAT IS A NATIONAL DISGRACE. 11
- 7 -
TO PROVIDE OPPORTUNITY TO OUR YOUNG PEOPLE, WE
NEED NEW AND INNOVATIVE ECONOMIC TOOLS. THE TRAINING
WAGE, JUST PASSED BY CONGRESS, IS ONE SUCH TOOL. BUT
WE NEED MORE, MUCH MORE, FROM MERIT PAY, TO MAGNET
SCHOOLS, TO MORE EFFECTIVE PROGRAMS TO FIGHT
ILLITERACY.
I WISH I COULD GO ON, BECAUSE WHAT IS IN MY HEART
IS GREATER THAN MY ABILITY TO VOICE IT TONIGHT. BUT IT
ALL COMES DOWN THIS: TO TAKE THE LEAD, YOUNG AMERICANS
MUST BE HEALTHY, IN BODY AND MIND. THEY MUST BE READY,
IN KNOWLEDGE AND PURPOSE. THEY MUST HAVE OPPORTUNITY.
THAT WE MUST PROVIDE THEM. LET US WORK TOGETHER TO DO
JUST THAT.
AND FINALLY, AND UNEQUIVOCALLY, THEY MUST BE FREE
FROM DISCRIMINATION. I WILL USE MY NOBLE OFFICE TO
SPEAK OUT AGAINST BIGOTRY AND DISCRIMINATION. III
- 8 -
I SPOKE EARLIER OF THE BIBLICAL PROVERB THAT
COMPARED RIGHTEOUSNESS TO A MIGHTY STREAM. THIS SAME
VISION CAN BE FOUND IN A POEM BY LANGSTON HUGHES, WHO
COMPARED THE ODYSSEY OF BLACK MEN AND WOMEN TO THE
CROSSING OF MANY RIVERS. AND WITH EACH CROSSING, THEIR
SOULS HAVE GROWN DEEP -- DEEP, LIKE THE RIVERS.
THIS ODYSSEY SHAPED THE SOUL OF A PEOPLE, AND
BECAUSE OF YOUR LEADERSHIP, IT ALSO SHAPED THE SOUL OF
OUR NATION. GOD BLESS YOU, GOD BLESS AMERICA -- AND
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL.
#
#
#
TELEPHONE ADDRESS: NAACP FUNDRAISING DINNER IN NEW YORK
8 p.m., Friday, December 15, 1989
Good evening, Ben and Frances Hooks, John and Patricia Kluge
( (Klu-GEE) ) Mayor-to-be Dinkins and Governor-Elect Wilder. I
want you to know how sorry I am to miss this wonderful evening.
But, to be perfectly honest, I'm feeling very much under the
weather. Even Millie thinks I look as sick as a dog. III
Ben, for eighty years, the NAACP has been the conscience of
America. I look back to my November 17th meeting with the Black
Leadership Conference as another step in an historic partnership.
There are SO many challenges that confront us -- protecting civil
rights, fighting drugs and crime, promoting education and
opportunity. Neither of us can go the distance alone. But by
standing together, we are bigger than any problem we face.
The words in my heart are much more than I can say to you
tonight. I want you to know that I am with you in spirit,
tonight and for all my time as your President. You have my word
on it.
Finally, I want to thank Secretary and Ginger Sullivan for
representing us in New York. And I've asked Lou to share some of
my thoughts with you. Good night, God bless you, and God bless
America.
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
FACSIMILE TRANSMITTAL SHEET
NUMBER OF PAGES INCLUDING COVER
9
DATE 12/15
TO Kay James
FAX NUMBER 245-2247
OFFICE NUMBER
COMMENTS The following is teleprompter
Style, if you need anything more
please don't hesitate to call!
FROM Kristen Gear
FAX NUMBER 456-6218
OFFICE NUMBER 456-2930
THE WHITE house
Aallevon
Kay Janes
Ltzz Ihz
shortversion
Lree-snt
Mr. Wilson
M203
295-
2815-7 000
245 -1850
2815-7 000
245 - 1850
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
FACSIMILE TRANSMITTAL SHEET
NUMBER OF PAGES INCLUDING COVER
9
DATE 12/15
TO
MR. WILSON
FAX NUMBER 245 - 7203
OFFICE NUMBER
COMMENTS
FROM
FAX NUMBER
OFFICE NUMBER
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
DECEMBER 15, 1989
INFORMATION
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
THROUGH: DAVID DEMARESTX
FROM:
MARK DAVIS MD
SUBJECT: NAACP SPEECH
Attached is the revised, shortened text for tonight's
speech.
POTOS
R.M CHRNIBES PA.S $
Davis/Martin
Title: NAACP
Dec. 15, 1989
Draft: Six
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: NAACP FUNDRAISING, WALDORF, NEW YORK
8 p.m. Friday, December 15, 1989
different joke
Thank you, Ben, for that gracious introduction. ( (As you
or
can probably tell, I'm a bit under the weather. If I had lost my leave
voice altogether, then I guess I would now be reduced to giving
out
you a slide show of our summer vacation. As it is, I hope you'll
forgive me if my remarks are brief. ))
Secretary Sullivan, Ginger, John and Patricia Kluge ((Klu-
GEE)), Ben and Frances Hook, Mayor-to-be David Dinkins, Governor-
elect Doug Wilder, congratulations on your victories. Stevie
Wonder, the Duke Ellington band, thank you for the tunes. New
York at Christmastime has a certain magic -- especially decked
out in its finest Miracle on 34th Street look.
((You know, for two years, when I was ambassador to the
United Nations, Barbara and I lived in this very hotel, in room
42 A. And whenever I complained about anything, Barbara would
just roll her eyes and say: "Just where do you think we live?
The Waldorf Astoria?") ) \\
This is a time when Americans from different professions and
political parties can celebrate common ideals. Nowhere are these
ideals more visible than in the commitment and social concerns of
this great association. Since the early days of the Niagara
Movement, for eighty years, the NAACP has provided leadership --
2
not just for one people within America -- but for all of
America.
Your leadership was born of troubled times, and sharpened by
adversity. You've known persecution, and through it, you gained
compassion. You've been without power, and through it, you won
empowerment. You've suffered the ignorance and bigotry of small
minds, and instead, you built pride and respect.
Go to Montgomery, Alabama, today. Stand before the granite
wall of the new civil rights memorial. And through a veil of
flowing water you will read these words from the Bible: "
let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty
stream.
Like a mighty river, justice can cut a channel through the
hardest of stone. Like a mighty river seeking the sea, justice
will, in the end, find fulfillment. It has been slow in coming.
It has been impeded. But its journey is inexorable because
justice cannot be denied.
On November 17, I met with Ben and the leaders of the Black
Leadership Council. You challenged me with the highest ideals of
your movement. Now let me challenge you to work with our
Administration, from this day forward, on a campaign to build a
better America.
I seek a new partnership, one that draws inspiration from
achievements both home and abroad -- I speak of the civil rights
and Solidarity movements. For after all, from the country roads
of Selma twenty years ago to the city streets of Eastern Europe
3
today, a common refrain echoes through the history of our times:
"We shall overcome." Has the world known more improbable heroes
than Rosa Parks and Lech Walesa? But heroes they are.
So let us emulate them by working together. For in
solidarity, we can reasonably hope that we will finally attain
the fondest dream of the founders of the NAACP -- a society blind
to bigotry, a society open to all.\\
The fight against discrimination has been the historic
mission of the civil rights movement -- a mission that has seen
great success, but a mission that has yet to be completely
fulfilled. We know that prejudice and racial tensions still
exist in America. That is why I support, and intend to sign into
law, a measure to collect as much information as we can on crimes
motivated by religious, racial or ethnic animosity -- the Hate
Crimes Bill.
And that is why I worked with the Congress in a bipartisan
effort to reauthorize the Commission on Civil Rights. I will
appoint to that Commission men and women who will fight against
discrimination, and fight for the civil rights of all
Americans. You have my word on it.
But there are other missions for the civil rights movement
in the 1990s. From now on, the protection of civil rights must
also mean the removal of all barriers to opportunity. Of course,
we can be thankful that many black Americans enjoyed enormous
employment and income gains during the 1980s. But there are
4
forms of poverty that cannot be measured or solved by dollars
alone.
First and foremost -- there is a poverty of the spirit.
Government can't teach young men and women to have faith in
themselves if their mothers and fathers have lost all faith.
Government can't teach that achievement is to be found in quiet
moments and subtle rewards, instead of the murderous materialism
of easy drug money. But, in a new solidarity, we can instill
these values. We can cultivate character -- as leaders, as
parents, as teachers, as communities working with our churches.
And there are other forms of poverty. When people, going
about the ordinary business of their lives -- waiting for a bus,
walking to a corner grocery store -- must fear for their lives --
then fear has stolen a most precious possession -- freedom. Last
week, in Houston, I saw such a community when I revisited the
district I represented as a Congressman. I also saw a community
that had enough of fear, had enough of crime, had enough of dope.
You and I must march with them, side by side, block by block,
city by city.
Then there is yet another kind of poverty, a growing poverty
of knowledge and skills. Many young men and women in this
country -- white, as well as black -- are simply not learning --
not learning -- the basic skills they need to hold down a job or
to raise a family. That is a national disgrace.
To provide opportunity to our young people, we need new and
innovative economic tools. The training wage, just passed by
5
Congress, is one such tool. But we need more, much more, from
merit pay, to magnet schools, to more effective programs to fight
illiteracy.
I wish I could go on, because what is in my heart is greater
than my ability to voice it tonight. But it all comes down this:
To take the lead, young Americans must be healthy, in body and
mind. They must be ready, in knowledge and purpose. They must
have opportunity. That we must provide them. Finally,
Let US work and together
unequivocally, they must be free from discrimination.
to do just
dojust
that A
I spoke earlier of the Biblical proverb that compared
righteousness to a mighty stream. This same vision can be found
in a poem by Langston Hughes, who compared the odyssey of black
men and women to the crossing of many rivers. And with each
crossing, their souls have grown deep -- deep, like the rivers.
This odyssey shaped the soul of a people, and because of
your leadership, it also shaped the soul of our nation. God
bless you, God bless America -- and Merry Christmas to you all.
#
#
#
H And finally,
\\\
will use my noble office to speakoob
against B bigoty $ discrimination
Davis/Martin
Title: NAACP
Dec. 15, 1989
Draft: Six
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: NAACP FUNDRAISING, WALDORF, NEW YORK
8 p.m. Friday, December 15, 1989
Thank you, Ben, for that gracious introduction.
Secretary Sullivan, Ginger, John and Patricia Kluge ((Klu-
GEE) ) Ben and Frances Hook, Mayor-to-be David Dinkins, Governor-
elect Doug Wilder, congratulations on your victories. Stevie
Wonder, the Duke Ellington band, thank you for the tunes. New
York at Christmastime has a certain magic -- especially decked
out in its finest Miracle on 34th Street look.
((You know, for two years, when I was ambassador to the
United Nations, Barbara and I lived in this very hotel, in room
42 A. And whenever I complained about anything, Barbara would
just roll her eyes and say: "Just where do you think we live?
The Waldorf Astoria?") )
This is a time when Americans from different professions and
political parties can celebrate common ideals. Nowhere are these
ideals more visible than in the commitment and social concerns of
this great association. Since the early days of the Niagara
Movement, for eighty years, the NAACP has provided leadership --
not just for one people within America -- but for all of
America.
Your leadership was born of troubled times, and sharpened by
adversity. You've known persecution, and through it, you gained
2
compassion. You've been without power, and through it, you won
empowerment. You've suffered the ignorance and bigotry of small
minds, and instead, you built pride and respect.
Go to Montgomery, Alabama, today. Stand before the granite
wall of the new civil rights memorial. And through a veil of
flowing water you will read these words from the Bible: "
let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty
stream. "\\
Like a mighty river, justice can cut a channel through the
hardest of stone. Like a mighty river seeking the sea, justice
will, in the end, find fulfillment. It has been slow in coming.
It has been impeded. But its journey is inexorable because
justice cannot be denied.
On November 17, I met with Ben and the leaders of the Black
Leadership Council. You challenged me with the highest ideals of
your movement. Now let me challenge you to work with our
Administration, from this day forward, on a campaign to build a
better America.
I seek a new partnership, one that draws inspiration from
achievements both home and abroad -- I speak of the civil rights
and Solidarity movements. For after all, from the country roads
of Selma twenty years ago to the city streets of Eastern Europe
today, a common refrain echoes through the history of our times:
"We shall overcome. II Has the world known more improbable heroes
than Rosa Parks and Lech Walesa? But heroes they are.
3
So let us emulate them by working together. For in
solidarity, we can reasonably hope that we will finally attain
the fondest dream of the founders of the NAACP -- a society blind
to bigotry, a society open to all.\\
The fight against discrimination has been the historic
mission of the civil rights movement -- a mission that has seen
great success, but a mission that has yet to be completely
fulfilled. We know that prejudice and racial tensions still
exist in America. That is why I support, and intend to sign into
law, a measure to collect as much information as we can on crimes
motivated by religious, racial or ethnic animosity -- the Hate
Crimes Bill.
And that is why I worked with the Congress in a bipartisan
effort to reauthorize the Commission on Civil Rights. I will
appoint to that Commission men and women who will fight against
discrimination, and fight for the civil rights of all
Americans. You have my word on it.
But there are other missions for the civil rights movement
in the 1990s. From now on, the protection of civil rights must
also mean the removal of all barriers to opportunity. of course,
we can be thankful that many black Americans enjoyed enormous
employment and income gains during the 1980s. But there are
forms of poverty that cannot be measured or solved by dollars
alone.
First and foremost -- there is a poverty of the spirit.
Government can't teach young men and women to have faith in
4
themselves if their mothers and fathers have lost all faith.
Government can't teach that achievement is to be found in quiet
moments and subtle rewards, instead of the murderous materialism
of easy drug money. But, in a new solidarity, we can instill
these values. We can cultivate character -- as leaders, as
parents, as teachers, as communities working with our churches.
And there are other forms of poverty. When people, going
about the ordinary business of their lives -- waiting for a bus,
walking to a corner grocery store -- must fear for their lives --
then fear has stolen a most precious possession -- freedom. Last
week, in Houston, I saw such a community when I revisited the
district I represented as a Congressman. I also saw a community
that had enough of fear, had enough of crime, had enough of dope.
You and I must march with them, side by side, block by block,
city by city.\
Then there is yet another kind of poverty, a growing poverty
of knowledge and skills. Many young men and women in this
country -- white, as well as black -- are simply not learning --
not learning -- the basic skills they need to hold down a job or
to raise a family. That is a national disgrace.
To provide opportunity to our young people, we need new and
innovative economic tools. The training wage, just passed by
Congress, is one such tool. But we need more, much more, from
merit pay, to magnet schools, to more effective programs to fight
illiteracy.
5
I wish I could go on, because what is in my heart is greater
than my ability to voice it tonight. But it all comes down this:
To take the lead, young Americans must be healthy, in body and
mind. They must be ready, in knowledge and purpose. They must
have opportunity. That we must provide them. Let us work
together to do just that.
And finally, and unequivocally, they must be free from
discrimination. I will use my noble office to speak out against
bigotry and discrimination.
I spoke earlier of the Biblical proverb that compared
righteousness to a mighty stream. This same vision can be found
in a poem by Langston Hughes, who compared the odyssey of black
men and women to the crossing of many rivers. And with each
crossing, their souls have grown deep -- deep, like the rivers.
This odyssey shaped the soul of a people, and because of
your leadership, it also shaped the soul of our nation. God
bless you, God bless America -- and Merry Christmas to you all.
#
#
#
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON
DECEMBER 15, 1989
INFORMATION
MEMORANDUM FOR THE PRESIDENT
XX
THROUGH: DAVID DEMAREST
FROM:
MARK DAVIS MD
SUBJECT: NAACP SPEECH
Attached is the revised, shortened text for tonight's
speech.
Davis/Martin
Title: NAACP
Dec. 15, 1989
Draft: Six
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: NAACP FUNDRAISING, WALDORF, NEW YORK
8 p.m. Friday, December 15, 1989
Thank you, Ben, for that gracious introduction. ( (As you
can probably tell, I'm a bit under the weather. If I had lost my
voice altogether, then I guess I would now be reduced to giving
you a slide show of our summer vacation. As it is, I hope you'll
forgive me if my remarks are brief. ))
Secretary Sullivan, Ginger, John and Patricia Kluge ((Klu-
GEE) ) Ben and Frances Hook, Mayor-to-be David Dinkins, Governor-
elect Doug Wilder, congratulations on your victories. Stevie
Wonder, the Duke Ellington band, thank you for the tunes. New
York at Christmastime has a certain magic -- especially decked
out in its finest Miracle on 34th Street look.
((You know, for two years, when I was ambassador to the
United Nations, Barbara and I lived in this very hotel, in room
42 A. And whenever I complained about anything, Barbara would
just roll her eyes and say: "Just where do you think we live?
The Waldorf Astoria?") )
This is a time when Americans from different professions and
political parties can celebrate common ideals. Nowhere are these
ideals more visible than in the commitment and social concerns of
this great association. Since the early days of the Niagara
Movement, for eighty years, the NAACP has provided leadership --
2
not just for one people within America -- but for all of
America.
Your leadership was born of troubled times, and sharpened by
adversity. You've known persecution, and through it, you gained
compassion. You've been without power, and through it, you won
empowerment. You've suffered the ignorance and bigotry of small
minds, and instead, you built pride and respect
Go to Montgomery, Alabama, today. Stand before the granite
wall of the new civil rights memorial. And through a veil of
flowing water you will read these words from the Bible:
"
let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty
stream.
Like a mighty river, justice can cut a channel through the
hardest of stone. Like a mighty river seeking the sea, justice
will, in the end, find fulfillment. It has been slow in coming.
It has been impeded. But its journey is inexorable because
justice cannot be denied.
On November 17, I met with Ben and the leaders of the Black
Leadership Council. You challenged me with the highest ideals of
your movement. Now let me challenge you to work with our
Administration, from this day forward, on a campaign to build a
better America.
I seek a new partnership, one that draws inspiration from
achievements both home and abroad -- I speak of the civil rights
and Solidarity movements. For after all, from the country roads
of Selma twenty years ago to the city streets of Eastern Europe
3
today, a common refrain echoes through the history of our times:
"We shall overcome." Has the world known more improbable heroes
than Rosa Parks and Lech Walesa? But heroes they are.
So let us emulate them by working together. For in
solidarity, we can reasonably hope that we will finally attain
the fondest dream of the founders of the NAACP -- a society blind
to bigotry, a society open to all.\
The fight against discrimination has been the historic
mission of the civil rights movement -- a mission that has seen
great success, but a mission that has yet to be completely
fulfilled. We know that prejudice and racial tensions still
exist in America. That is why I support, and intend to sign into
law, a measure to collect as much information as we can on crimes
motivated by religious, racial or ethnic animosity -- the Hate
Crimes Bill.
And that is why I worked with the Congress in a bipartisan
effort to reauthorize the Commission on Civil Rights. I will
appoint to that Commission men and women who will fight against
discrimination, and fight for the civil rights of all
Americans. You have my word on it.
But there are other missions for the civil rights movement
in the 1990s. From now on, the protection of civil rights must
also mean the removal of all barriers to opportunity. of course,
we can be thankful that many black Americans enjoyed enormous
employment and income gains during the 1980s. But there are
4
forms of poverty that cannot be measured or solved by dollars
alone.
First and foremost -- there is a poverty of the spirit.
Government can't teach young men and women to have faith in
themselves if their mothers and fathers have lost all faith.
Government can't teach that achievement is to be found in quiet
moments and subtle rewards, instead of the murderous materialism
of easy drug money. But, in a new solidarity, we can instill
these values. We can cultivate character -- as leaders, as
parents, as teachers, as communities working with our churches.
And there are other forms of poverty. When people, going
about the ordinary business of their lives -- waiting for a bus,
walking to a corner grocery store -- must fear for their lives --
then fear has stolen a most precious possession -- freedom. Last
week, in Houston, I saw such a community when I revisited the
district I represented as a Congressman. I also saw a community
that had enough of fear, had enough of crime, had enough of dope.
You and I must march with them, side by side, block by block,
city by city.
Then there is yet another kind of poverty, a growing poverty
of knowledge and skills. Many young men and women in this
country -- white, as well as black -- are simply not learning --
not learning -- the basic skills they need to hold down a job or
to raise a family. That is a national disgrace.
To provide opportunity to our young people, we need new and
innovative economic tools. The training wage, just passed by
5
Congress, is one such tool. But we need more, much more, from
merit pay, to magnet schools, to more effective programs to fight
illiteracy.
I wish I could go on, because what is in my heart is greater
than my ability to voice it tonight. But it all comes down this:
To take the lead, young Americans must be healthy, in body and
mind. They must be ready, in knowledge and purpose. They must
have opportunity. That we must provide them. Finally, and
unequivocally, they must be free from discrimination.
I spoke earlier of the Biblical proverb that compared
righteousness to a mighty stream. This same vision can be found
in a poem by Langston Hughes, who compared the odyssey of black
men and women to the crossing of many rivers. And with each
crossing, their souls have grown deep -- deep, like the rivers.
This odyssey shaped the soul of a people, and because of
your leadership, it also shaped the soul of our nation. God
bless you, God bless America -- and Merry Christmas to you all.
#
#
#
Davis/Martin
Title: NAACP
Dec. 15, 1989
Draft: Six
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: NAACP FUNDRAISING, WALDORF, NEW YORK
8 p.m. Friday, December 15, 1989
Thank you, Ben, for that gracious introduction. ( (As you
can probably tell, I'm a bit under the weather. If I had lost my
voice altogether, then I guess I would now be reduced to giving
you a slide show of our summer vacation. As it is, I hope you' 11
forgive me if my remarks are brief. ))
Secretary Sullivan, Ginger, John and Patricia Kluge ( (Klu-
GEE)), Ben and Frances Hook, Mayor-to-be David Dinkins, Governor-
elect Doug Wilder, congratulations on your victories. Stevie
Wonder, the Duke Ellington band, thank you. for the tunes. It's
at Chustminative has a certain magic
great to be back in New York -- especially now that the Big Apple
is decked out in its finest Miracle on 34th Street look.
((You know, for two years, when I was ambassador to the
United Nations, Barbara and I lived in this very hotel, in room
42 A. And whenever I complained about anything, Barbara would
just roll her eyes and say: "Just where do you think we live?
The Waldorf Astoria?") )
All in all, this is a wonderful evening, & time when
Americans from different professions and political parties can
celebrate common ideals. Nowhere are these ideals more visible
than in the commitment and social concerns of this great
association. Since the early days of the Niagara Movement, for
2
eighty years, the NAACP has provided leadership -- not just for
one people within America -- but for all of America.
Your leadership was born of troubled times, and sharpened by
adversity. You've known persecution, and through it, you gained
compassion. You've been without power, and through it, you won
empowerment. You've suffered the ignorance and bigotry of small
instead
minds, and because of them, you built pride and respect.
Go to Montgomery, Alabama, today. Stand before the granite
wall of the new civil rights memorial. And through a veil of
flowing water you will read these words from the Bible:
=
let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty
stream.
Like a mighty river, justice can cut a channel through the
hardest of stone. Like a mighty river seeking the sea, justice
will, in the end, find fulfillment. It has been slow in coming.
It has been impeded. But its journey is inexorable because
justice cannot be denied.
On November 17, I met with Ben and the leaders of the Black
Leadership Council. You challenged me with the highest ideals of
your movement. Now let me challenge you to work with my our
Administration, from this day forward, on a campaign to build a
better America. 11
I seek a new partnership, one that draws inspiration from
both homead alroad- I yreak
the achievement of the civil rights and Solidarity movements.
For after all, from the country roads of Selma twenty years ago.
to the city streets of Eastern Europe today, a common refrain
3
echoes through the history of our times: "We shall overcome."
Has the world known more improbable heroes than Rosa Parks and
Lech Walesa? But heroes they are.
So let us emulate them by working together. For in
solidarity, we can reasonably hope that we will finally attain
the fondest dream of the founders of the NAACP -- a society blind
to bigotry, a society open to all.\\
The fight against discrimination has been the historic
mission of the civil rights movement -- a mission that has seen
great success, but a mission that has yet to be completely
fulfilled. We know that prejudice and racial tensions still
exist in America. That is why I support, and intend to sign into
law, a measure to collect as much information as we can on crimes
motivated by religious, racial or ethnic animosity -- the Hate
Crimes Bill.
And that is why I worked with the Congress in a bipartisan
effort to reauthorize the Commission on Civil Rights. I will
appoint to that Commission men and women who will fight against
discrimination, and fight for the civil rights of all
Americans. \\ you have my word on it. 38
But there are other missions for the civil rights movement
in the 1990s. From now on, the protection of civil rights must
also mean the removal of all barriers to opportunity. Of course,
we can be thankful that many black Americans enjoyed enormous
employment and income gains during the 1980s. But there are
4
forms of poverty that cannot be measured or solved by dollars
alone.
First and foremost -- there is a poverty of the spirit.
Government can't teach young men and women to have faith in
themselves if their mothers and fathers have lost all faith.
Government can't teach that achievement is to be found in quiet
moments and subtle rewards, instead of the murderous materialism
of easy drug money. But, in a new solidarity, we can instill
these values. We can cultivate character -- as leaders, as
parents, as teachers, as communities working with our churches.
And there are other forms of poverty. When people, going
about the ordinary business of their lives -- waiting for a bus,
walking to a corner grocery store -- must fear for their lives --
then fear has stolen a most precious possession -- freedom. Last
week, in Houston, I saw such a community when I revisited the
district I represented as a Congressman. I also saw a community
that had enough of fear, had enough of crime, had enough of dope.
You and I must march with them, side by side, block by block,
city by city.
Then there is yet another kind of poverty, a growing poverty
of knowledge and skills. Many young men and women in this
country -- white, as well as black -- are simply not learning --
not learning -- the basic skills they need to hold down a job or
to raise a family. That is a national disgrace.
To provide opportunity to our young people, we need new and
innovative economic tools. The training wage, just passed by
5
Congress, is one such tool. But we need more, much more, from
merit pay, to magnet schools, to more effective programs to fight
illiteracy.
I wish I could go on, because what is in my heart if greater
than my ability to voice it tonight. But it all comes down this:
To take the lead, young Americans must be healthy, in body and
mind. They must be ready, in knowledge and purpose. They must
be sapping poverty. And they must be free from
have free opportunity. of soul That we must provide term. Finally, and unequically.
discrimination.) bold bf
I spoke earlier of the Biblical proverb that compared
righteousness to a mighty stream. This same vision can be found
in a poem by Langston Hughes, who compared the odyssey of black
men and women to the crossing of many rivers. And with each
crossing, their souls have grown deep -- deep, like the rivers.
This odyssey shaped the soul of a people, and because of
your leadership, it also shaped the soul of our nation. I wish I
could say more. God bless you, God bless America -- and Merry
Christmas to you all.
#
#
#
097233SS
Document No.
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
12/13/89
DATE:
12/13/89 5:00 PM
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NAACP
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
ROGERS
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
PINKERTON
FITZWATER
BOSKIN
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please forward any comments directly to Chriss Winston, Rm. 122,
x2930, no later than 5:00 PM TODAY, December 13, with a copy to
my office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
Title: NAACP
1989 DEC 13 AM 9: 05
Dec. 12, 1989
Draft: Four
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: NAACP FUNDRAISING, WALDORF, NEW YORK
Friday, December 15, 1989
( (Maybe we should take our act on the road. They can bill
us as: "The Coz and Mister Smooth. ")) 11
Ben Hooks, good to see you again. David Dinkins, Doug
Wilder, congratulations on your victories. Governor Cuomo, great
to be back in New York ((other acknowledgements to come.) )
Lionel Hampton -- thank you. Good vibes from a good
friend. 11
((You know, when I was ambassador to the United Nations,
Barbara and I lived in this very hotel, in room 42 A. And
whenever I complained about anything, Barbara would just roll her
eyes and say: "Just where do you think we live? The Waldorf
Astoria?") ) \\
All in all, this is a wonderful evening, a time when
Americans from different professions and political parties can
come together to celebrate common ideals.
Nowhere are these ideals more visible than in the commitment
and social concerns of this great association. Since the early
days of the Niagara Movement, the NAACP has challenged the
conscience of a nation. You have provided leadership -- not just
for one people within America -- but for all of America. 11
2
Your leadership was born of troubled times, and sharpened by
adversity. You've known persecution, and through it, you gained
compassion. You've been without power, and through it, you won
empowerment. You've suffered the ignorance and bigotry of small
minds, and because of them, you built pride and respect.
Go to Montgomery, Alabama, today. Stand before the granite
wall of the new civil rights memorial. And through a veil of
flowing water you will read these words from the Bible:
let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty
stream.
Like a mighty river, justice can cut a channel through the
hardest of stone. Like a mighty river seeking the sea, justice
will, in the end, find fulfillment. It has been slow in coming.
It has been impeded. But its journey is inexorable because
justice cannot be denied. \\
Because of the activism of the NAACP, justice is on the
rise. On November 17, I met with Ben and the leaders of the
other major civil rights organizations. You challenged me with
the highest ideals of your movement. Now let me challenge you to
ADMINISTRATION
work with me and my Cabinet, from this day forward, on a campaign
to build a better America.
I seek a new partnership, one that draws inspiration from
the achievement of the civil rights and Solidarity movements.
For after all, from the country roads of Selma twenty years ago
to the city streets of Eastern Europe today, a common refrain
echoes through the history of our times: "We shall overcome."
3
Has the world known more improbable heroes than Rosa Parks and
Lech Walesa? But make no mistake, heroes they are.
So let us emulate them by working together. For in
M.K.
solidarity, we can reasonably hope that in the new century, just
to
a decade away, we will finally attain the fondest dream of the
founders of the NAACP -- a society blind to bigotry, a society
open to all.
m.k.
The fight against discrimination has been the historic
that has seen great success,
mission of the civil rights movement -- a mission that has yet to
I worked with the Congress in
buta
be completely fulfilled. That is why breauthorized the Civil
Mission
a SipaRtisAN effort to acauthorize the Cammisson an Civil Rights.
Rights Commission. IV ((And that is why I have a surprise for you
AND THAT tonight in announcing a major appointment that of ( (name) ) to
IS why I the Civil Rights Commission. He is a good man. He deserves your IN THAT
am committed
UAIN,
support. ))
I WANT
to appointing
But I am told by many of you that there are other missions TO TAKE
to that
this the
for the civil rights movement in the 1990s. From now on, the
Commission
мел and
protection of civil rights must also mean the removal of all
opportunity of this
GATHERING
women
barriers to opportunity.
who will
to annance
work together
Of course, the barriers to opportunity for black Americans my appoints
were much more prevalent in the past, even in the recent past.
of
to aid
the fight
From 1973 to 1981, black employment growth lagged behind that of as Chairm
of the
against
whites. And real black income declined sharply between 1973 to
Commissio
discrimination1981 -- even as government was spending more on new social
an civil
and to
programs.
RiGHTS.
promote the
civil rights
But black Americans have enjoyed enormous employment and
of all
income gains during the 1980s. Disparities remain, but they've
Americans.
4
been narrowed by the rate of progress. Since 1981, black
employment has grown 27 percent -- nearly twice the 15 percent
growth in white employment. Between 1981 and 1988, the real
median income for black families has grown 12 percent, compared
with 10.5 percent for white families.
Some would say this signals the victory of the War on
Poverty. But we know better. It was in 1965 that Lyndon Johnson
declared his war -- a war of liberation -- a war he said was a
to
struggle not to simply support people, but a struggle to give
people a chance. It was a noble effort, but despite of all the
good news I just relayed to you, the War on Poverty fell short.
It fell short because the cruelest forms of poverty cannot be
fought with dollars alone.
First and foremost -- there is a poverty of the spirit.
Government can't teach young men and women to have faith in
themselves if their mothers and fathers have lost all faith.
Government can't teach that achievement is to be found in quiet
moments and subtle rewards, instead of the murderous materialism
(
of easy drug money. But, in a new solidarity, we can teach Promote these
as teachers
values -- as leaders, as parents, as communities working with our
churches.
Let me give you another example of another form of poverty -
- the higher incidence of disease and early death in the black
community is a kind of poverty, a poverty of health. Cancer,
strokes, heart disease -- all afflict black Americans in greater
UNACCEPTABLE
proportions. This shameful disparity in the health of black
5
Americans is the foremost concern of our Secretary of Health and
Human Services, Doctor Louis Sullivan. And so let us tonight to
join in solidarity against disease and early death. \\
There are other forms of poverty. When people, going about
the ordinary business of their lives -- waiting for a bus,
walking to a corner grocery store -- must fear for their lives
crime
then fear has stolen a most precious possession -- their freedom.
Last week, in Houston, I saw such a community when I
revisited the district I represented as a Congressman. I also
saw a community that had enough of fear, had enough of crime, had
enough of dope. Just as the people of Berlin are standing up for
freedom, so the people of this poor Houston neighborhood are
rallying together, using people power to fight for another kind
and freedom from fear.
of freedom -- freedom from fear crime and drugs Their journey
to this freedom is long and hard. But you and I must march with
them in solidarity, side by side, block by block, city by city.
sime and
Let us declare tonight our new solidarity against drugs.
Then there is yet another kind of poverty, a growing poverty
of knowledge and skills.
MANY
A whole generation of young men and women in this country -
white, as well as black -- are simply not learning -- not
learning -- the basic skills they need to hold down a job or to
raise a family. That is a national disgrace. For the first
time in history, we face the prospect that the sons and daughters
of America could be less educated than their mothers and fathers.
The
This Most tragic
aspect of this loss is
that it is visited
Most severy on communities with
the leAst to lose. Communities that are
already economically depressed.
Q J
net
5,
100 10 15
2/4
2
5
3.w.
2b
10:wb
6
Well, let me tell you -- that is unacceptable and this
President is not going to sit by and watch that happen.
Neither will American business, because business needs new
talent as never before. There is a coming labor shortage in this
As older workers retire and young
URban
league
people begin working,
country, of a kind which we have rarely seen before. Women,
minorities and immigrants will comprise eight increasing out of ten new
an
who
short.
proportion of our workforce. And
gives
entrants into the job market. Yet the new service and
summens
manufacturing industries will also require higher skills, more
in PAST
training and, at the very least, literacy. Education -- quality
only
education is a prerequisite to making a decent living in America.
they re
If
for
So we must work together, as never before, to reform our
it.
schools. Our mission must be to find a way to bring knowledge
and enlightenment to a new generation of Americans. Let us stand
in solidarity for the liberation of young minds.
You know my proposals. First, I believe parents deserve
choice. They deserve the power to choose their children's child-
care, whether that means a grandparent or a church-affiliated
center. And then they deserve the power to choose their
children's school.
And where disadvantaged children are concerned, Congress
REWORK
wants to provide an increase of $151 million in the funding of
Head Start to serve up to 37,500 more eligible 4 year olds. +
want to go further [I challenged Congress to increase Head Start
this Year
funding by $250 million, to serve up to 95,000 more children. ]
To provide opportunity to our young people, we need new and
innovative economic tools. The training wage, just passed by
I Next YeaR I will again challenge the challenge Congress
H.K
the congress to increase resources for Head Start,
and I hope next Year the congress will provide
e.uerg dollar I request.
and opportunity requires education, safe streets, and
a drug- pee community regardless of one's color.
7
Congress, is one such tool. But we need more, much more, from
enterprise zones, to merit pay and magnet schools, to more
effective programs to fight illiteracy.
And I believe you are
aware of my many actions this year to strengthen and support the
Historically Black Colleges and Universities of America. In all
these measures and so much more, I want and need your active
support, your solidarity.
( (Ben, as a Baptist minister, I'm sure you heard the story
of the young preacher who was well into a sermon, and more than a
little nervous about how he was doing, when he noticed his wife
in the congregation holding up a little sign with the word "Kiss"
scrawled on it. Inspired, he went on to speak for another half
hour, and afterwards, asked his wife what she thought of the
sermon. "Awful," she said. "Don't you know what I mean by
'Kiss.' It stands for 'Keep It Short Stupid. 11
So in this same spirit, I want to say something in
conclusion, but straight from the heart. In November, we started
a new era of cooperation, the first of many working sessions on
the problems that plague America. Now is no time for mere
politics. Now is the time to band together -- not for our sake -
- not for temporary partisan gain -- but in solidarity, for
generations to come.
When I talk to young people about what they want out of
life, one word keeps cropping up -- adventure. The generation
that is coming of age today is poised for a truly great
adventure. The world they will know will be as different from
These militiAtions initiatives respond. 40 the needs of many
Commonities black and white. They seek to provide appointmy
for Americans of all races, religions, and ethnic backgrawns.
certainly there remains a need far the black community and other -
other communities that have been historically disadvAntaged.
8
today's world as ours is from that of W.E.B. Du Bois. Winds of
freedom are sweeping the globe. New democracies are being born.
Technology is leading us toward new worlds. And Americans must
be prepared, as never before, to provide the leadership for the
new century.
To take the lead, young Americans must be healthy, in body
and mind. They must be ready, in knowledge and purpose. They
must be free of soul-sapping poverty. And they must be free from
discrimination.
I spoke earlier of the Biblical proverb that compared
righteousness to a mighty stream. This same vision can be found
in a poem by Langston Hughes, who compared the odyssey of black
men and women to the crossing of many rivers. And with each
crossing, their souls have grown deep -- deep, like the rivers.
This odyssey shaped the soul of a people, and because of
your leadership, it also shaped the soul of our nation. Thank
you, God bless you, and God bless America.
#
#
#
122
action 097233SS
Document No.
cc: MJB
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
RLS
in
JB7
12/13/89
12/13/89 5:00 PM
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NAACP
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
ROGERS
CICCONI
WINSTON
PINKERTON
DEMAREST
BOSKIN
FITZWATER
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please forward any comments directly to Chriss Winston, Rm. 122,
x2930, no later than 5:00 PM TODAY, December 13, with a copy to
my office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
Davis/Martin
Title: NAACP
1989 DEC 13 AM 9: 05
Dec. 12, 1989
Draft: Four
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS: NAACP FUNDRAISING, WALDORF, NEW YORK
Friday, December 15, 1989
( (Maybe we should take our act on the road. They can bill
us as: "The Coz and Mister Smooth. ))\\
Ben Hooks, good to see you again. David Dinkins, Doug
Wilder, congratulations on your victories. Governor Cuomo, great
to be back in New York ((other acknowledgements to come.))
Lionel Hampton -- thank you. Good vibes from a good
friend.
((You know, when I was ambassador to the United Nations,
Barbara and I lived in this very hotel, in room 42 A. And
whenever I complained about anything, Barbara would just roll her
eyes and say: "Just where do you think we live? The Waldorf
Astoria?") 111
All in all, this is a wonderful evening, a time when
Americans from different professions and political parties can
come together to celebrate common ideals.
Nowhere are these ideals more visible than in the commitment
and social concerns of this great association. Since the early
days of the Niagara Movement, the NAACP has challenged the
conscience of a nation. You have provided leadership -- not just
for one people within America -- but for all of America. 11
2
Your leadership was born of troubled times, and sharpened by
adversity. You've known persecution, and through it, you gained
compassion. You've been without power, and through it, you won
empowerment. You've suffered the ignorance and bigotry of small
minds, and because of them, you built pride and respect.
Go to Montgomery, Alabama, today. Stand before the granite
wall of the new civil rights memorial. And through a veil of
flowing water you will read these words from the Bible:
"
let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty
stream.
Like a mighty river, justice can cut a channel through the
hardest of stone. Like a mighty river seeking the sea, justice
will, in the end, find fulfillment. It has been slow in coming.
It has been impeded. But its journey is inexorable because
justice cannot be denied.
Because of the activism of the NAACP, justice is on the
rise. On November 17, I met with Ben and the leaders of the
other major civil rights organizations. You challenged me with
the highest ideals of your movement. Now let me challenge you to
work with me and my Cabinet, from this day forward, on a campaign
to build a better America.
I seek a new partnership, one that draws inspiration from
the achievement of the civil rights and Solidarity movements.
For after all, from the country roads of Selma twenty years ago
to the city streets of Eastern Europe today, a common refrain
echoes through the history of our times: "We shall overcome."
3
Has the world known more improbable heroes than Rosa Parks and
Lech Walesa? But make no mistake, heroes they are.
So let us emulate them by working together. For in
solidarity, we can reasonably hope that in the new century, just
a decade away, we will finally attain the fondest dream of the
founders of the NAACP -- a society blind to bigotry, a society
open to all. \\
The fight against discrimination has been the historic
mission of the civil rights movement -- a mission that has yet to
be completely fulfilled. That is why I reauthorized the Civil
Rights Commission. ( (And that is why I have a surprise for you
tonight in announcing a major appointment -- that of ( (name) ) to
the Civil Rights Commission. He is a good man. He deserves your
support. ))\\
But I am told by many of you that there are other missions
for the civil rights movement in the 1990s. From now on, the
protection of civil rights must also mean the removal of all
barriers to opportunity.
Of course, the barriers to opportunity for black Americans
were much more prevalent in the past, even in the recent past.
From 1973 to 1981, black employment growth lagged behind that of
X
whites. And real black income declined sharply between 1973 to
X
1981 -- even as government was spending more on new social
programs.
But black Americans have enjoyed enormous employment and
income gains during the 1980s. Disparities remain, but they've
This you block unemployment nates
82
readed The lowest levels
recorded w 15 years.
helding
11089 89
4
what
payments
been narrowed by the rate of progress. Since 1981, black
employment has grown 27 percent -- nearly twice the 15 percent
growth in white employment. Between 1981 and 1988, the real
median income for black families has grown 12 percent, compared
10.8
yet
with 10.5 percent for white families.
Despite then sains they
is still e lage gap
Some would say this signals the victory of the War on
between
Poverty. But we know better. It was In in 1965 that Lyndon Johnson bleds
declared his war -- a war of liberation -- a war he said was a
el
whates
struggle not to simply support people, but a struggle to give
insomes
people a chance. It was a noble effort, but despite of all the
and
everyday
good news I just relayed to you, the War on Poverty fell short
end
It fell short because the cruelest forms of poverty cannot be
further
fought with dollars alone.
wah
remains
First and foremost -- there is a poverty of the spirit.
Government can't teach young men and women to have faith in
recling
themselves if their mothers and fathers have lost all faith.
sogelaty
Government can't teach that achievement is to be found in quiet
moments and subtle rewards, instead of the murderous materialism
of easy drug money. But, in a new solidarity, we can teach these
values -- as leaders, as parents, as communities working with our
churches.
Let me give you another example of another form of poverty -
- the higher incidence of disease and early death in the black
community is a kind of poverty, a poverty of health. Cancer,
strokes, heart disease -- all afflict black Americans in greater
proportions. This shameful disparity in the health of black
5
Americans is the foremost concern of our Secretary of Health and
Human Services, Doctor Louis Sullivan. And so let us tonight to
join in solidarity against disease and early death.
There are other forms of poverty. When people, going about
the ordinary business of their lives -- waiting for a bus,
walking to a corner grocery store -- must fear for their lives --
then fear has stolen a most precious possession -- their freedom.
Last week, in Houston, I saw such a community when I
revisited the district I represented as a Congressman. I also
saw a community that had enough of fear, had enough of crime, had
enough of dope. Just as the people of Berlin are standing up for
freedom, so the people of this poor Houston neighborhood are
rallying together, using people power to fight for another kind
of freedom -- freedom from fear, crime and drugs. Their journey
to this freedom is long and hard. But you and I must march with
them in solidarity, side by side, block by block, city by city.
Let us declare tonight our new solidarity against drugs.
Then there is yet another kind of poverty, a growing poverty
of knowledge and skills.
A whole generation of young men and women in this country -
white, as well as black -- are simply not learning -- not
learning -- the basic skills they need to hold down a job or to
raise a family. That is a national disgrace.) For the first
time in history, we face the prospect that the sons and daughters
of America could be less educated than their mothers and fathers.
6
Well, let me tell you -- that is unacceptable and this
President is not going to sit by and watch that happen.
Neither will American business, because business needs new
talent as never before. There is a coming labor shortage in this
country, of a kind which we have rarely seen before. Women,
minorities and immigrants will comprise eight out of ten new
entrants into the job market. Yet the new service and
manufacturing industries will also require higher skills, more
training and, at the very least, literacy. Education -- quality
education is a prerequisite to making a decent living in America.
So we must work together, as never before, to reform our
schools. Our mission must be to find a way to bring knowledge
and enlightenment to a new generation of Americans. Let us stand
in solidarity for the liberation of young minds.
You know my proposals. First, I believe parents deserve
choice. They deserve the power to choose their children's child-
care, whether that means a grandparent or a church-affiliated
center. And then they deserve the power to choose their
children's school.
And where disadvantaged children are concerned, Congress
wants to provide an increase of $151 million in the funding of
Head Start to serve up to 37,500 more eligible 4-year-olds. I
want to go further. I challenge Congress to increase Head Start
funding by $250 million, to serve up to 95,000 more children.
To provide opportunity to our young people, we need new and
innovative economic tools. The training wage, just passed by
7
Congress, is one such tool. But we need more, much more, from
enterprise zones, to merit pay and magnet schools, to more
effective programs to fight illiteracy. And I believe you are
aware of my many actions this year to strengthen and support the
Historically Black Colleges and Universities of America. In all
these measures and so much more, I want and need your active
support, your solidarity.
((Ben, as a Baptist minister, I'm sure you heard the story
of the young preacher who was well into a sermon, and more than a
little nervous about how he was doing, when he noticed his wife
in the congregation holding up a little sign with the word "Kiss"
scrawled on it. Inspired, he went on to speak for another half
hour, and afterwards, asked his wife what she thought of the
sermon. "Awful," she said. "Don't you know what I mean by
'Kiss.' It stands for 'Keep It Short Stupid. '"))\\
So in this same spirit, I want to say something in
conclusion, but straight from the heart. In November, we started
a new era of cooperation, the first of many working sessions on
the problems that plague America. Now is no time for mere
politics. Now is the time to band together -- not for our sake -
- not for temporary partisan gain -- but in solidarity, for
generations to come.
When I talk to young people about what they want out of
life, one word keeps cropping up -- adventure. The generation
that is coming of age today is poised for a truly great
adventure. The world they will know will be as different from
8
today's world as ours is from that of W.E.B. Du Bois. Winds of
freedom are sweeping the globe. New democracies are being born.
Technology is leading us toward new worlds. And Americans must
be prepared, as never before, to provide the leadership for the
new century.
To take the lead, young Americans must be healthy, in body
and mind. They must be ready, in knowledge and purpose. They
must be free of soul-sapping poverty. And they must be free from
discrimination.
I spoke earlier of the Biblical proverb that compared
righteousness to a mighty stream. This same vision can be found
in a poem by Langston Hughes, who compared the odyssey of black
men and women to the crossing of many rivers. And with each
crossing, their souls have grown deep -- deep, like the rivers.
This odyssey shaped the soul of a people, and because of
your leadership, it also shaped the soul of our nation. Thank
you, God bless you, and God bless America.
#
#
#
097233SS
WHITE HOUSE STAFFING MEMORANDUM
"
Document No.
12/13/89
12/13/89 5:00 PM
DATE:
ACTION/CONCURRENCE/COMMENT DUE BY:
PRESIDENTIAL REMARKS: NAACP
SUBJECT:
ACTION FYI
ACTION FYI
VICE PRESIDENT
MCCLURE
SUNUNU
NEWMAN
SCOWCROFT
PORTER
DARMAN
ROGICH
BATES
UNTERMEYER
CARD
ROGERS
CICCONI
WINSTON
DEMAREST
PINKERTON
FITZWATER
BOSKINX 5042
GRAY
HAGIN
REMARKS:
Please forward any comments directly to Chriss Winston, Rm. 122,
x2930, no later than 5:00 PM TODAY, December 13, with a copy to
my office. Thank you.
RESPONSE:
James W. Cicconi
Assistant to the President
and Deputy to the Chief of Staff
Ext. 2702
or the address Ans Nowe 14ath 1989 6L DEC p'. 10mg MIN. AM
Davis/Martin
Title: NAACP
13 9: 05
Dec. 12, 1989
Draft: Four
11/1
PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS:
NAACP FUNDRAISING, WALDORF, NEW YORK
Friday, December 15, 1989
((Maybe we should take our act on the road. They can bill
us as: "The Coz and Mister Smooth. "))\\
Ben Hooks, good to see you again. David Dinkins, Doug
Wilder, congratulations on your victories. Governor Cuomo, great
to be back in New York ((other acknowledgements to come.))
Lionel Hampton -- thank you. Good vibes from a good
friend.
( (You know, when I was ambassador to the United Nations,
Barbara and I lived in this very hotel, in room 42 A. And
whenever I complained about anything, Barbara would just roll her
eyes and say: "Just where do you think we live? The Waldorf
Astoria?"))\\
All in all, this is a wonderful evening, a time when
Americans from different professions and political parties can
come together to celebrate common ideals.
Nowhere are these ideals more visible than in the commitment
and social concerns of this great association. Since the early
days of the Niagara Movement, the NAACP has challenged the
conscience of a nation. You have provided leadership -- not just
for one people within America -- but for all of America.
2
Your leadership was born of troubled times, and sharpened by
adversity. You've known persecution, and through it, you gained
compassion. You've been without power, and through it, you won
empowerment. You've suffered the ignorance and bigotry of small
minds, and because of them, you built pride and respect.
Go to Montgomery, Alabama, today. Stand before the granite
wall of the new civil rights memorial. And through a veil of
flowing water you will read these words from the Bible:
"
let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty
stream.
Like a mighty river, justice can cut a channel through the
hardest of stone. Like a mighty river seeking the sea, justice
will, in the end, find fulfillment. It has been slow in coming.
It has been impeded. But its journey is inexorable because
justice cannot be denied.
Because of the activism of the NAACP, justice is on the
rise. On November 17, I met with Ben and the leaders of the
other major civil rights organizations. You challenged me with
the highest ideals of your movement. Now let me challenge you to
Cidministration
work with me and my Cabinet, from this day forward, on a campaign
to build a better America.
I seek a new partnership, one that draws inspiration from
the achievement of the civil rights and Solidarity movements.
For after all, from the country roads of Selma twenty years ago
to the city streets of Eastern Europe today, a common refrain
echoes through the history of our times: "We shall overcome."
3
Has the world known more improbable heroes than Rosa Parks and
Lech Walesa? But make no mistake, heroes they are.
So let us emulate them by working together. For in
solidarity, we can reasonably hope that in the new century, just
a decade away we will finally attain the fondest dream of the
founders of the NAACP -- a society blind to bigotry, a society
open to all.
The fight against discrimination has been the historic
that hasseen great but success, amission
mission of the civil rights movement -- a mission that has yet to
viopk
worced with the Conguso in a bipartison 70 effort
be completely fulfilled. That is why In reauthorized the Civil
Commision on
Rights Commission ( (And that is why I have a surprise for you
tonight in announcing a major appointment -- that of ((name) ) to
the Civil Rights Commission. He is a good man. He deserves your
support. ))\\ )
But I am told by many of you that there are other missions
for the civil rights movement in the 1990s. From now on, the
protection of civil rights must also mean the removal of all
barriers to opportunity.
Of course, the barriers to opportunity for black Americans
were much more prevalent in the past, even in the recent past.
From 1973 to 1981, black employment growth lagged behind that of
whites. And real black income declined sharply between 1973 to
1981 -- even as government was spending more on new social
programs.
But black Americans have enjoyed enormous employment and
income gains during the 1980s. Disparities remain, but they've
and that's why I will appoint to that Commission meu and women
who will fig ht against discrimination and prom fight for the civil
nights of all americans 11.
4
been narrowed by the rate of progress. Since 1981, black
employment has grown 27 percent -- nearly twice the 15 percent
growth in white employment. Between 1981 and 1988, the real
median income for black families has grown 12 percent, compared
with 10. percent for white families.
Some would say this signals the victory of the War on
Poverty. But we know better. It was in 1965 that Lyndon Johnson
declared his war -- a war of liberation -- a war he said was a
to
struggle not to simply support people, but a struggle to give
people a chance. It was a noble effort, but despite of all the
good news I just relayed to you, the War on Poverty fell short.
It fell short because the cruelest forms of poverty cannot be
fought with dollars alone.
First and foremost -- there is a poverty of the spirit.
Government can't teach young men and women to have faith in
themselves if their mothers and fathers have lost all faith.
Government can't teach that achievement is to be found in quiet
moments and subtle rewards, instead of the murderous materialism
of easy drug money. But, in a new solidarity, we can teach instill these
we cancultivate character
asteachers
values -- as leaders, as parents, as communities working with our
churches.
Let me give you another example of another form of poverty -
- the higher incidence of disease and early death in the black
community is a kind of poverty, a poverty of health. Cancer,
strokes, heart disease -- all afflict black Americans in greater
unaccuptable
proportions. This shameful disparity in the health of black
5
Americans is the foremost concern of our Secretary of Health and
Human Services, Doctor Louis Sullivan. And so let us tonight to
join in solidarity against disease and early death.
There are other forms of poverty. When people, going about
the ordinary business of their lives -- waiting for a bus,
walking to a corner grocery store -- must fear for their lives --
then fear has stolen a most precious possession -- their freedom.
Last week, in Houston, I saw such a community when I
revisited the district I represented as a Congressman. I also
saw a community that had enough of fear, had enough of crime, had
enough of dope. Just as the people of Berlin are standing up for
freedom, so the people of this poor Houston neighborhood are
rallying together, using people power to fight for another kind
from
freedom from fear.
2x0. not
to
of freedom freedom from fear crime and drugs. Their journey
to this freedom is long and hard. But you and I must march with
them in solidarity, side by side, block by block, city by city.
crime and
Let us declare tonight our new solidarity against drugs.
Then there is yet another kind of poverty, a growing poverty
of knowledge and skills.
Mamy
A whole generation of young men and women in this country -
white, as well as black -- are simply not learning -- not
learning -- the basic skills they need to hold down a job or to
raise a family. That is a national disgrace. For the first
time in history, we face the prospect that the sons and daughters
of America could be less educated than their mothers and fathers.
whoconafford.t the least
and it is the communities with the least lose
those most severely already economically depressed —
whichare the the that are the most tragic victims
of, crime and drugs.
6
Well, let me tell you -- that is unacceptable and this
President is not going to sit by and watch that happen.
Neither will American business, because business needs new
talent as never before. There is a coming labor shortage in this
country, of a kind which we have rarely seen before. Women,
urban
league
minorities and immigrants will comprise eight out of ten new
entrants into the job market. Yet the new service and
OPP
manufacturing industries will also require higher skills, more
training and, at the very least, literacy. Education -- quality
education is a prerequisite to making a decent living in America.
So we must work together, as never before, to reform our
schools. Our mission must be to find a way to bring knowledge
and enlightenment to a new generation of Americans. Let us stand
in solidarity for the liberation of young minds.
You know my proposals. First, I believe parents deserve
choice. They deserve the power to choose their children's child-
care, whether that means a grandparent or a church-affiliated
center. And then they deserve the power to choose their
children's school.
And where disadvantaged children are concerned, Congress
appropriated
wants to provide an increase of $151 million in the funding of
Head Start to serve up to 37,500 more eligible 4-year-olds. I
want to go further. I challenge Congress to increase Head Start
when reconvenes
funding by $250 million, to serve up to 95,000 more children.
To provide opportunity to our young people, we need new and
innovative economic tools. The training wage, just passed by
our proposals respond to the needs
But H believe that Xwil rights
ot many communities - of every
Color, be They seek to provide
means 0 pportunity and opportunity
requires education, safe street,
opportunity because
7
ana accrug-free community
Sor all americans.
Congress, is one such tool. But we need more, much more, from
enterprise zones, to merit pay and magnet schools, to more
we need
effective programs to fight illiteracy. And I believe you are
the msteps we've taken
aware of my many actions this year to strengthen and support the
each
Historically Black Colleges and Universities of America. In all
these measures and so mony much more, I want and need your active
support, your solidarity.
((Ben, as a Baptist minister, I'm sure you heard the story
of the young preacher who was well into a sermon, and more than a
little nervous about how he was doing, when he noticed his wife
in the congregation holding up a little sign with the word "Kiss"
scrawled on it. Inspired, he went on to speak for another half
hour, and afterwards, asked his wife what she thought of the
sermon. "Awful," she said. "Don't you know what I mean by
'Kiss.' It stands for 'Keep It Short Stupid. '"))
So in this same spirit, I want to say something in
conclusion, but straight from the heart. In November, we started
a new era of cooperation, the first of many working sessions on
the problems that plague America. Now is no time for mere
politics. Now is the time to band together -- not for our sake -
- not for temporary partisan gain -- but in solidarity, for
generations to come.
When I talk to young people about what they want out of
life, one word keeps cropping up -- adventure. The generation
that is coming of age today is poised for a truly great
adventure. The world they will know will be as different from
8
today's world as ours is from that of W.E.B. Du Bois. Winds of
freedom are sweeping the globe. New democracies are being born.
Technology is leading us toward new worlds. And Americans must
be prepared, as never before, to provide the leadership for the
new century.
To take the lead, young Americans must be healthy, in body
and mind. They must be ready, in knowledge and purpose. They
must be free of soul-sapping poverty. And they must be free from
discrimination.
I spoke earlier of the Biblical proverb that compared
righteousness to a mighty stream. This same vision can be found
in a poem by Langston Hughes, who compared the odyssey of black
men and women to the crossing of many rivers. And with each
crossing, their souls have grown deep -- deep, like the rivers.
This odyssey shaped the soul of a people, and because of
your leadership, it also shaped the soul of our nation. Thank
you, God bless you, and God bless America.
#
#
#