Transcript of RealAudio Excerpt
Common ground. America is not a
blanket woven from one thread, one color,
one cloth. When I was a child growing up in Greenville, South Carolina my
grandmama could not afford a blanket, she didn't complain and we did not
freeze. Instead she took pieces of old cloth - patches, wool, silk,
gabardine,
crockersack - only patches, barely good enough to wipe off your shoes with.
But
they didn't stay that way very long. With sturdy hands and a strong cord, she
sewed them together into a quilt, a thing of beauty and power and culture.
Now,
Democrats, we must build such a quilt.
Farmers, you seek fair prices and you are right - but you cannot stand
alone. Your patch is not big enough. Workers, you fight for fair wages, you
are
right - but your patch of labor is not big enough. Women, you seek comparable
worth and pay equity, you are right - but your patch is not big enough.
(Applause)
Women, mothers, who seek Head Start, and day care and prenatal care on the
front side
of life, relevant jail care and welfare on the back side of life - you are
right
- but your patch is not big enough. Students, you seek scholarships, you are
right - but your patch is not big enough. Blacks and Hispanics, when we fight
for civil rights, we are right - but our patch is not big enough.
Gays and lesbians, when you fight against discrimination and a cure for AIDS,
you are right - but your patch is not big enough. Conservatives and
progressives, when you fight for what you believe, right wing, left wing, hawk,
dove, you are right from your point of view, but your point of view is not
enough.
But don't despair. Be as wise as my grandmama. Pull the patches and the
pieces
together, bound by a common thread. When we form a great quilt of unity and
common ground, we'll have the power to bring about health care and housing
and
jobs and education and hope to our Nation. (Standing ovation)
We, the people, can win!
Most poor people are not lazy. They are not black. They are not brown. They are
mostly White and female and young. But whether White, Black or Brown, a hungry
baby's belly turned inside out is the same color-- color it pain, color it hurt, color it agony.
Most poor people are not on welfare. Some of them are illiterate and can't read
the want-ad sections. And when they can, they can't find a job that matches the
address. They work hard everyday. I know, I live amongst them. They catch the
early bus. They work every day. They raise other people's children. They work
everyday.
They clean the streets. They work everyday. They drive dangerous cabs. They change the beds you slept in in these hotels last night and can't get a union contract. They work everyday. (Applause)
No, no, they're not lazy. Someone must defend them because it's right and
they cannot speak for themselves. They work in hospitals. I know they do. They wipe the bodies of those who are sick with fever and pain. They empty their bedpans. They clean out their commodes. No job is beneath them, and yet when they get sick they cannot lie in the bed they made up every day. America, that is not right (Applause) We are a better Nation than that! (Applause)
I'm often asked, "Jesse, why do you take on these tough issues? They're not
very
political. We can't win that way."
If an issue is morally right, it will eventually be political. It may be
political and never be right. Fanny Lou Hamer didn't have the most votes in
Atlantic City, but her principles have outlasted the life of every delegate who
voted to lock her out. Rosa Parks did not have the most votes, but she was
morally right. Dr. King didn't have the most votes about the Vietnam War, but
he was morally right. If we are principled first, our politics will fall in
place. "Jesse, why do you take these big bold initiatives?" A poem by an
unknown author went something like this: "We mastered the air, we conquered
the sea, annihilated distance and prolonged life, but we're not wise enough to
live on this earth without war and without hate."
As for Jesse Jackson: "I'm tired of sailing my little boat, far inside the
harbor bar. I want to go out where the big ships float, out on the deep where
the great ones are. And should my frail craft prove too slight for waves that
sweep those billows o'er, I'd rather go down in the stirring fight than drowse
to death at the sheltered shore."
We've got to go out, my friends, where the big boats are. (Applause)
And then for our children. Young America, hold your head high now. We can
win. We must not lose to the drugs, and violence, premature pregnancy, suicide,
cynicism, pessimism and despair. We can win. Wherever you are tonight,
now I challenge you to hope and to dream. Don't submerge your dreams.
Exercise
above all else, even on drugs, dream of the day you are drug free. Even in
the
gutter, dream of the day that you will be up on your feet again.
You must never stop dreaming. Face reality, yes, but don't stop with the way
things are. Dream of things as they ought to be. Dream. Face pain, but love,
hope, faith and dreams will help you rise above the pain. Use hope and
imagination as weapons of survival and progress, but you keep on dreaming,
young America. Dream of peace. Peace is rational and reasonable. War is
irrational in this age, and unwinnable.
Dream of teachers who teach for life and not for a living. Dream of doctors
who are concerned more about public health than private wealth. Dream of
lawyers more concerned about justice than a judgeship. Dream of preachers who
are concerned more about prophecy than profiteering. Dream on the high road
with sound values.
