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Text of Remarks of the President to be Delivered at Freedom Day Celebration in Charlotte, North Carolina [Ford Speech or Statement]
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7339270
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Text of Remarks of the President to be Delivered at Freedom Day Celebration in Charlotte, North Carolina [Ford Speech or Statement]
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White House Press Releases (Ford Administration)
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1975-05-19
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1975
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Digitized from Box 11 of the White House Press Releases at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE
UNTIL 6:00 a.m., EDT, MAY 20, 1975
MAY 19, 1975
Office of the White House Press Secretary
THE WHITE HOUSE
TEXT OF REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
TO BE DELIVERED TO THE
FREEDOM DAY CELEBRATION
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA
I am delighted to be in Charlotte today to enjoy the spirit of this unique
observance of our national Bicentennial.
I congratulate Mecklenburg County and all of North Carolina on the
Bicentennial enthusiasm demonstrated here. And I will leave to the
historians any debates about Mecklenburg County's Declaration of
Independence.
I see this gathering as a symbol of the pride of Americans in their com-
munity, in their State and in their Nation. In recent years, America has
undergone change after change -- some still taking place with rapid and
almost bewildering speed. But amidst such change, our most cherished
values have remained as steadfast as when instituted by the Fathers of our
Country. I refer to America's capacity for unity in diversity, for courage
in the face of challenge, for decency in the midst of dissension, for opti-
mism in spite of reverses and for creativity in adapting to the rapidly
changing world in which we live. Our destiny, in this year of our Bicenten-
nial, is to emerge as an even greater Republic.
When the United States celebrated its first one hundred years in 1876, the
South was still recovering from the tragic War between the States. This
was America's most terrible ordeal. Yet America -- and the South -- have
risen again.
North Carolina is a showcase of a State that reveres the values of the past
while leading the way toward a progressive future. The Tar Heel tenacity
is the American tenacity. The Tar Heelpride is the American pride. And
the Tar Heel moderation typifies America's new realism.
This State, and the rest of the South, knows at first hand the changes
of which I speak. I am proud of the great breakthroughs in education and
industry in the South, a region which today numbers more than 67 million
people, nearly one-third of the American population. This is an area where
family income has increased more in the past quarter-century than in any
other part of the United States. Today, personal income is rising more
rapidly here than in the rest of the country. Southerners -- including the
Tar Heels -- must be doing something right!
In fact, more people are today moving into the South than away from it. This
part of the Nation is today growing as fast as the West.
You have so many accomplíshments to take pride in. In Southern education,
expenditures per pupil have increased by more than two hundred twenty
percent in the last quarter century -- far more than in the Nation as a whole.
The number of high school graduates has increased at a much greater rate
than the rest of the country. There ar e also significant increases in those
attending institutions of higher learning.
(MOR E)
-2-
In industry, the South has today moved from a basic agricultural society
to a modern industrial region which manufactures approximately one quarter
of our Nation's total output. This is a great comeback from economic
conditions of a century ago.
I cite these statistics because they verify the potentialities of the South
and of all America. But it is not statistics that inspires us today. It is the
spirit of the people. It is the patriotism and the dedication and the will-
power of the thirteen original States which still live in the South and across
America. It is the vision of the future rather than a mirror of the past
which you hold. And I commend you for it.
At the time of the American Revolution, some said that America could
not defy the odds that confronted us. There were some who would roll over
and prostrate themselves in self-pity and hopelessness. But there were
many more who said, "We are Americans. We can do it!"
They were proud to be Americans -- just as you here today are proud to
identify yourselves with the traditions which made us great and the national
character which will keep us that way.
Our Centennial in 1876 was a time of national renewal and rededication
by Americans to our highest aspirations. Americans Southerners,
Northerners, Easterners and Westerners -- all looked to the future.
America emerged from an agricultural and frontier society into an industrial
age. Towns evolved into great cities of the 20th century. Rail transportation
and the telegraph tied this vast continent together.
Today, it is our turn to renew our pride in America, and rededicate our-
selves to the future. Our challenge -- like the centennial task one
hundred years ago -- is to create a new agenda for America's third century
We must rise above the divisions that have scarred our national life in
recent times. We must once again become one people -- strong and unified
in our national purpose.
The new strength and dynamism of the South coupled with your cherished
traditions can help America achieve this unity. I look to you for leadership
in forging a new destiny for America from the heritage we commemorate
here today.
I know that the spirit of liberty -- so evident in North Carolina at the time
of our Revolution -- will guide us. Those early stirrings of patriotism
and dedication to our way of life are still very much with us. The South
as a region and North Carolina as a State and Mecklenburg as a county
will continue to provide inspiration to our Nation.
I join in working with all Southerners, and all other Americans, to build a
better tomorrow. Together we can do it!
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