Subject: Hillary Clinton Delivers Remarks at the Detroit NAACP Annual 61st Dinner
From: Hillary for America Press <[email-masked]>
To: Hillary for America Press <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 2 May 2016 10:48:11 -0400
List-Id: <nationalpress2016.hillaryclinton.com>

**

*Hillary Clinton Delivers Remarks at the Detroit NAACP Annual 61st Dinner*

At the Detroit NAACP Annual 61st Dinner Sunday night, Hillary Clinton
highlighted her plans to break down barriers that hold Americans back.
Clinton plans to reinvest in communities and provide more affordable
housing in order to help cities like Detroit compete in the 21st century.
Clinton also addressed the other barriers Americans face, such as systemic
racism and the pay gap between men and women.

*The transcript of Clinton’s remarks, as delivered, is below:*

Whoa!  I’ll tell you what, that is an introduction second to none.  I am so
delighted to be here with all of you.  This is the 61st Annual Fight for
Freedom Fund Dinner.  I remember very well when my husband attended this
event back in 2000, the final year of his presidency, Dr. Anthony.  He came
home, he could not stop talking about it.  He said, “They call it a dinner
but let me tell you, it is so much more than a dinner.”  I saw that for
myself four years later when I joined you as a Senator representing New
York.  And I’m grateful to be invited back because, yes, this is so much
more than a dinner.  It’s a celebration.  It’s a revival.  It’s a giant
community meeting with people from all over the world.  It’s a movement.
And you’re right, it only happens in one place: right here in Detroit,
Michigan.

And I loved Reverend Anthony’s words for what does happen here every year,
not just this dinner but a weekend-long issue-tainment.  It’s not just
entertainment.  It’s not just talking about issues.  It’s both.  I think
America could use a little issue-tainment because there’s so much we need
to talk with each other about.

We’ve got to figure out how we’re going to work together, like you had all
those young people come in here and march around, literally representing
their ancestry from every place in the world.  I’d like to bottle that
spirit.  Because if we can enjoy ourselves while we are trying to roll up
our sleeves and work together and keep going for our communities and our
country, we will be all the better off.

So I want to thank the Freedom Fund dancers and the great speakers for
their magnificent interpretation of Langston Hughes’s poem, “Let America Be
America Again.”  They were wonderful.  Thank you for sharing that with all
of us.

I’m delighted to be here with so many distinguished elected leaders, clergy
members, business and union leaders and so many people from not just
Detroit, not just Michigan, but literally across our country.  I want to
thank all the elected officials.  I’m particularly pleased to have this
chance also to congratulate all of the award winners, starting with
Congressman Clyburn, who is a deserving recipient of the Lifetime
Achievement Award. And I want to also recognize Senator Goeff Hansen for
his award this evening; Mary Sheffield; Ivy Bailey; Shaka Senghor; and
Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Jefferson.  These are extraordinary Americans
who deserve the recognition that you have given to them.

I got to admit, though, after that introduction in that typical low-key
style– I’m a little bit worried I am going to shirk.  Because I’ve got to
say, you’ve got me all worked up about what we can do together based on
[...].  And I want to start where the Langston Hughes poem took us.  I
appreciate the chance to hear that poem with new ears.  I’ve read it many
times.  But as with all great works, there’s always something new to
discover.  And for me, what stands out tonight is that line right at the
start.  “Let America be that great, strong land of love.”  That is more
than poetry, my friends, that’s a prayer.  It’s one I hope we all try to
carry in our hearts every day, especially in this wild political season.

This election represents such a critical choice for America.  Yes, of
course, it’s a choice between different candidates, different parties,
different platforms, and visions for America’s future.  But I think it’s
also a choice about something even more fundamental.  It’s about unity
versus division, compassion versus selfishness, and love versus hate.  The
stakes don’t get much higher than that.

So we’ve got to do everything we can to convince Americans to make the
right choice.  America has come a long way over the past eight years and I
don’t think President Obama gets the credit he deserves for everything he’s
done to […] economy and make life better for American families.

And no one knows that better than Detroit.  Look at what’s happening across
this great city.  In Midtown and Eastern Market, Southwest Detroit, buses
are running, new businesses are opening, families are moving in.  There’s a
palpable feeling of pride and progress, Mayor.  And meanwhile, the auto
industry just had its best year ever. I think it was a pretty good
investment America made in saving the auto industry and giving the auto
companies, the UAW and the autoworkers a chance to show that Americans can
compete and win. Innovation is on the rise across Michigan – the clean
energy sector, the defense corridor and so much else.

So day by day and week by week, the people of Detroit and Michigan are
doing what you’ve always done, making and designing things that America
needs and the world wants.  But we can’t be satisfied until the economic
revitalization we’re seeing in some of Detroit’s neighborhoods is felt in
all of Detroit’s neighborhoods.

We can’t be satisfied until every parent has a good-paying job and every
grandparent has a secure retirement.  We can’t be satisfied until all of
Detroit’s children are learning in good schools with good teachers in every
classroom and no crumbling ceilings or mold or rats scurrying across the
floor.  And we can’t be satisfied until all of Michigan’s families have
clean water to drink and bathe in.

We know what happened in Flint is unacceptable.  We’ve got to make sure
that kind of disregard for the lives of children and families is never
allowed to happen anywhere else ever again. I’m grateful to Mayor Weaver
and the leaders in Flint for their leadership, their shining that bright
light.  We’re working together to make sure America can’t ignore the
families of Flint and to put young people to work helping distribute […]
broken pipes.  And President Obama’s visit this week will help to bring
even greater attention to what is needed.

I’ve said this many times in many places.  There are too many Flints in
America.  Places where the water that children are drinking is not safe,
where they air they breathe is not clean.  We cannot get distracted, not
until all of our children have what they deserve in every community across
our country that has been left out and left behind.

Now, these are challenges of politics and policy, of course.  But they
really all do come down to our hearts.  Do we believe that all of our kids
are worthy of the best we have to offer.  Do we believe that all Americans
deserve to be treated with dignity and respect?  Or do we think that some
children are less worthy, some families less valuable, some people less
than because of their race, religion, income, gender, identity or some
other ugly excuse?  In other words, do we want America to be a place where,
as Langston Hughes put it, equality is in the air we breathe?  Or should we
hold fast to what he called that same old stupid plan of dog eat dog, of
mighty crush the weak?

Well, I believe – and I think everyone here at this dinner believes – it’s
time we put that same old plan to rest once and for all.  That is how we
will let America be America again.

I’m running for president because I want to knock down all the barriers
holding Americans back – barriers of poverty and injustice, of unequal
access to health care and education, unequal treatment under the law,
unequal inclusion in our democracy.  Let’s knock them all down and build
ladders of opportunity in their place that all of our people can climb.
Let’s make it possible for everyone to rise together and share in the
promise of America.  And to do that, we need to face up to a painful
reality.  More than half a century after Rosa Parks sat and Dr. King
marched and John Lewis bled, race still plays a significant role in
determining who gets ahead in America and who gets left behind.  And that
is not news to anyone here.

Many of you know that better than I.  But I want you to know I get it and I
see it.  And it’s important we have this conversation.  For many white
Americans it’s tempting to believe that systemic racism is largely behind
us.  After all, that would leave us with a whole lot less work to do,
wouldn’t it?  But anyone asking for your vote has a responsibility to see
things as they actually are, not as we wish them to be.  Something is wrong
when the median wealth for black families is a tiny fraction of that for
white families.  Something is wrong when gun violence is by far the leading
cause of death for young […] the next nine leading causes of death
combined.  Something is wrong when young black kids are arrested for petty
crimes while white kids who do the same things aren’t.  And when black men
are far more likely to be stopped by the police, charged with crimes, and
sentenced to longer prison terms than white men convicted of the same
offenses.

Something is wrong when so many black parents are burying their children.
Imagine if white kids were 500 percent more likely to die from asthma than
black kids.  Imagine if a white baby in parts of this country was twice as
likely to die before her first birthday than a black baby.  Imagine the
outcry […] that would flood in to save those children.  These inequities
are wrong, they’re immoral, they’re un-American, and they have to end.
That’s why I’m proposing a new comprehensive commitment to equity in
opportunity for all communities in America.  Real plans to create jobs.
Hundreds of billions of dollars in new investments in cities like Detroit,
including 20 billion aimed specifically at jobs for young people.  Because
the unemployment rate is way too high in too many places.  We’ve got to
close that gap.

We need to support home ownership.  It’s always been one of the surest ways
for families to build wealth.  And we need a real plan […] expanding access
to capital to support entrepreneurs and small businesses, especially
minority- and women-owned small businesses.  They are the fastest growing
businesses in America.

And while we’re at it, let’s finally ensure equal pay for women.  (Cheers
and applause.)  Now, that would benefit women across the board, but
particularly women of color, and lift up a lot of families.

So making these commitments requires tackling the crisis of unequal access
to education.  Our schools are more segregated than they were in 1968.
We’ve got to reverse that.  It’s dangerous.  We need a good school with a
good teacher in the classroom for every child no matter […] that child
lives in.  And we’ve got to make sure if you want to go to college, you can
afford to go to college and not be held back by the lack of funds.  I’ve
got a plan so no one would have to borrow a dime to go to a public college
or university.  And we’re going to help the millions of young people pay
off the debt they already have.

And I want to give special support to historically black colleges and
universities because they’ve produced some of the finest leaders in
American history. They’re still doing it today, often against great odds.

So we need to do all of this, and we also need reform – end-to-end reform
in our criminal justice system.  The first policy speech I gave in this
campaign over a year ago was about criminal justice reform.  We have seen
the toll on families torn apart by excessive incarceration, children
growing up in homes shattered by prison and poverty.  Let’s get back to
that fundamental principle: everyone in every community benefits when there
is respect for the law and when everyone is respected by the law.  That
means not just acknowledging but fixing the crisis of mass incarceration.
Let’s eliminate the disparity in sentencing between crack and powder
cocaine.  Let’s end racial profiling.  These are things I fought for as a
Senator; I will fight for them as president.

We are going to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline and create a
cradle-to-college pipeline in its place. We’re also going to do more to
help people […] to society.  They need a second chance.  They should have
the opportunity to get it.  Let’s ban the box.  Let’s give people a fair
shot at competing for jobs.  Let’s invest in job training and housing so
people trying to do the right thing have a real shot at rebuilding their
lives.

And let’s return the vote to everyone who has paid his or her debt to
society. If America is really a country that believes in second chances,
let’s start acting like it.  And let’s end the tragedy of African Americans
being killed by incidents involving the police, by learning from police
departments doing the right things and applying those lessons across our
country.  Let’s make sure the Justice Department has the resources to hold
departments accountable when they get it wrong.

I’ve had the great privilege of getting to know the Mothers of the Movement
who have lost children to gun violence or encounters with the police.  I’ve
sat with them.  I’ve listened to them as they’ve talked about their
children and their families.  And I’ve seen how they support each other.
Women who would never have met except for the unimaginable happening to
them.  They are members of a club no one ever wants to join, but they’re
channeling their grief into action.  They are fighting to make sure other
mothers’ children don’t die like theirs did.  If they are willing to turn
their mourning into a movement, we can join that movement.  Stand with
them.  Call for common sense reforms to reduce gun violence.  Take on the
gun lobby.  Don’t let them continue to not take responsibility for their
actions.  We’ve got to end the epidemic of gun violence and make sure that
we don’t lose any more of our young people.

You know, after the campaign is over and the lights are off, we have got to
follow through on all of this.  I want you to hold me accountable.  I want
you to know what I intend to do and then to keep saying, “Well, how are you
doing?  How are you doing, President?  Are we getting it done?” I want to
work with your elected officials.  I want to work with the clergy.  I want
to work with business.  I want to work with all of you.  We are going to
tackle these problems.

And we have got to make sure people turn out and vote in order to be able
to do that. So let’s make sure we get the vote heard and convince people to
actually exercise that franchise, to knock down the barriers standing in
the way, making it harder for people to vote.

I am very confident that we can come together to make this campaign one
that will bring people together, that will unify our country, that will
make it possible for us not just to campaign but to govern.

I am not new to these fights.  As you heard from Reverend Anthony, I have
been doing this for a long time, standing up to injustice, especially on
behalf of our kids.  That’s always been my North Star, ever since I went to
work for Marian Wright Edelman at the Children’s Defense Fund.

So I know that this is not easy.  I know it doesn’t happen because we say
it, we campaign on it.  No politician should show up at election time and
say the right things and think that’s enough.  Anybody asking for a vote
should show you what their commitment is and what they will do to right the
wrongs that plague our great country.

We’ve got some candidates in this race who are trying to divide us.  We’ve
got some candidates in this race who are stoking hatred and inciting
violence.  We’ve got some candidates in this race who are trying to set
Americans against one another.  We’ve got some candidates in this race who
act as though Americans have no memory.  So hold all of us accountable.
Ask the hard questions.  We deserve leaders who will tear down barriers,
not build walls between us.

And we need to be sure that as we go forward in this campaign, we look out
mostly for those left out and left behind.  I’m asking all Americans to
join in this systemic race’s intergenerational poverty, gun violence.
These aren’t somebody else’s problems.  These are our problems.  These
aren’t urban problems.  These are American problems.  You prove every day
that progress really does take a village.  So let’s make sure we act on
that.

We have a saying in my campaign, “Love trumps hate.” And I think that’s
exactly what we have to do.  We have to demonstrate what that poem asked us
to do.  We have to remember the lessons from scripture.  We have to look at
our great country.  Look at this amazing gathering:  people from every
background, every race, every religion coming together as one people, one
nation.

There is no other place like it in the world.  I went to 112 countries as
your secretary of state.  There is no place like America.  Let’s not
endanger the promise, the potential, the dream of our country by giving in
to these voices of hatred. Instead, let us remind ourselves of how far we
have come together.

It was a tremendous honor to serve in President Obama’s administration.
Now America is deciding who will succeed him.  The leading Republican
contender is the man who led the insidious birther movement to discredit
the President’s citizenship.  And when he was asked in a national
television interview to disavow David Duke and other white supremacists who
are supporting his campaign, he played coy.

We cannot let Barack Obama’s legacy fall into Donald Trump’s hands. We
can’t let all the hard work and progress we have achieved over the last
seven and a half years be torn away.  We have to move forward together.  We
have to bring our country together.  We have to keep working toward that
more perfect union.  That mission feels more urgent than ever now that the
Obama presidency is coming to a close.

We have been blessed to have this strong, thoughtful leader sitting in the
Oval Office, an exceptional First Lady by his side.  They have made us
proud.  They have represented America to the world with style and grace.
And it is up to us to make sure that when they leave the White House, the
concerns and priorities they championed, the hopes and dreams that
Americans have entrusted to them don’t also leave.

So here is my promise to you.  If I am fortunate enough to be president, I
am going to keep fighting to tear down all those barriers, holding back
every American.  My door will always be open.    My administration will
look like America.  You will always have a friend and a partner in the
White House.  But I need your help, your wisdom, and your prayers in this
campaign and then every day afterwards.

There will be some difficult days ahead for our country, for this great
city.  But, as scripture tells us, let us not grow weary doing good for in
due season, we shall reap if we do not lose heart.

And if we need inspiration, we can look to our history.  Harriet Tubman is
in the news these days. She is finally getting some of the acclaim she so
richly deserves.  I was proud to help to make her homestead in New York a
national treasure to work to support the work that she has done that lives
on.

Now, remember, among her many acts of extraordinary courage was leading
slaves to freedom along the underground railroad.  And she had just one
instruction for those entrusted in her care:  Keep going.  She’d say, “If
you hear the dogs, keep going.  If you see the torches in the woods, keep
going.  If there’s shouting after you, keep going.  Don’t ever stop.  Keep
going.  If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.”  So, my friends, let’s
keep going together.  Let’s organize and mobilize and make sure that love
trumps hate once and for all.  Thank you, and God bless you.

###

For Immediate Release, May
​2​
​
, 2016
Contact: [email-masked]

PAID FOR BY HILLARY FOR AMERICA
Contributions or gifts to Hillary for America are not tax deductible.
Hillary for America, PO Box 5256, New York

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