First, justice was the promise that all who made the journey would share
in the fruits of the land.
In a land of great wealth, families must not live in hopeless poverty.
In a land rich in harvest, children just must not go hungry. In a land
of healing miracles, neighbors must not suffer and die unattended. In a
great land of learning and scholars, young people must be taught to read
and write.
For the more than 30 years that I have served this Nation, I have
believed that this injustice to our people, this waste of our resources,
was our real enemy. For 30 years or more, with the resources I have had,
I have vigilantly fought against it. I have learned, and I know, that it
will not surrender easily.
But change has given us new weapons. Before this generation of Americans
is finished, this enemy will not only retreat--it will be conquered.
Justice requires us to remember that when any citizen denies his
fellow, saying, "His color is not mine," or "His beliefs are strange
and different," in that moment he betrays America, though his forebears
created this Nation.