written speech on racism

10 Inspiring Black History Speeches That Remain Culturally Relevant

B lack History Month’s observance was founded on the need to acknowledge the turmoil Black Americans have had to face throughout history, but also the necessity to celebrate Black accomplishments . Learning about these famous Black history speeches is a great way to do both of these things.

These speeches show the range of what Black Americans have had to advocate for, from the abolition of slavery, to the Civil Rights Movement to modern conversations about race and injustice . The words of these speakers empowered the Black community and impacted it in ways that are still relevant today. Here are 10 Black history speeches that changed history to acknowledge and celebrate this Black History Month. 

“The Ballot or the Bullet” (1964) – Malcolm X 

“The Ballot or the Bullet” is a powerful and influential speech delivered by Malcolm X on April 12, 1964, in Detroit. In this address, Malcolm X emphasized the urgency for political empowerment and self-defense within the African American community. He argued that if the government failed to address the concerns of black citizens and provide them with their constitutional rights, they should use their voting power strategically or, if necessary, resort to more forceful means to secure their rights.

Malcolm X called for unity among African Americans and rejected the notion of relying solely on nonviolent resistance, advocating for a more assertive stance in the face of systemic racism and inequality. The speech highlighted Malcolm X’s evolving ideology, moving away from the teachings of the Nation of Islam towards a broader, more inclusive perspective on the struggle for civil rights and justice.

“Ain’t I a Woman?” (1851) – Sojourner Truth 

“Ain’t I a Woman?” is a historic speech delivered by Sojourner Truth at the Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio, in 1851. Born into slavery as Isabella Baumfree, Truth emerged as a passionate abolitionist and women’s rights advocate. Truth challenged prevailing stereotypes and gender-based discrimination faced by African American women in her poignant address. She eloquently questioned the prevailing notions of femininity and argued for the equal rights of black women in the suffrage and abolitionist movements.

Though there are variations in the accounts of her exact words, the essence of Truth’s speech remains a powerful testament to her resilience, determination, and commitment to dismantling the intersecting barriers of racism and sexism. “Ain’t I a Woman?” continues to resonate as a pivotal moment in the history of both the abolitionist and women’s rights movements.

“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” (1852) – Frederick Douglass 

“What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” is one of the many  powerful and searing Black history speeches delivered by Frederick Douglass. It was delivered on July 5, 1852, in Rochester, New York. Douglass was a former enslaved person turned prominent abolitionist and used this occasion to address the glaring hypocrisy of celebrating American independence while millions of African Americans remained enslaved.

In his speech, Douglass articulated the stark contrast between the ideals of freedom and equality espoused in the Declaration of Independence and the harsh reality of slavery. He questioned the moral integrity of a nation that denied basic rights to a significant portion of its population and highlighted the stark irony of celebrating freedom while denying it to others. Douglass’ speech remains a poignant critique of the contradictions embedded in American society during the era of slavery and stands as a timeless condemnation of systemic injustice.

“A More Perfect Union” (2008) – Barack Obama

“A More Perfect Union” is a landmark speech delivered by Barack Obama on March 18, 2008, during his presidential campaign. Obama sought to confront issues of race in America head-on while addressing the nation in the wake of controversy surrounding his association with Reverend Jeremiah Wright. In the speech, Obama acknowledged the complexities of race relations, emphasizing the need for an honest and open dialogue about the nation’s racial history.

He spoke about his own biracial background and the evolving American identity, urging the country to move beyond racial divisions and work towards a more inclusive and united future. The speech is notable for its eloquence, thoughtfulness, and Obama’s commitment to fostering understanding and unity in a diverse and complex nation. It played a significant role in shaping the narrative of his campaign and addressing the broader issues of race in American society.

“Black Power” (1966) – Stokely Carmichael 

“Black Power” is a pivotal speech delivered by Stokely Carmichael (later Kwame Ture) during the March Against Fear in Mississippi on June 16, 1966. It is one of the Black history speeches that played such a pivotal role in mobilizing Black Americans, but many do not know much about it today. As a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Carmichael popularized the term “Black Power,” encapsulating a call for empowerment, self-determination, and pride within the African American community.

In his speech, Carmichael emphasized the need for black people to define and assert their political and social agenda, urging them to move away from reliance on white allies and institutions. “Black Power” marked a shift in the civil rights movement, emphasizing a more assertive and militant approach to address systemic racism. The term became a rallying cry for a generation of activists advocating for black identity, pride, and autonomy in the face of ongoing racial injustice and inequality.

“I Have a Dream” (1963) – Martin Luther King Jr. 

“I Have a Dream” is one of the most iconic and influential speeches in American history, not just amongst Black history speeches. It was delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In this powerful address, King passionately articulated his dream of a nation where individuals are judged by their character rather than the color of their skin. He called for an end to racial segregation and discrimination, advocating for civil and economic rights for African Americans.

King’s eloquent and inspiring words resonated far beyond the crowds gathered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, contributing to the momentum that led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The “I Have a Dream” speech remains a symbol of the ongoing struggle for racial equality and justice, embodying King’s vision of a more inclusive and harmonious society.

James Baldwin’s 1965 Debate With William F. Buckley Jr.

The debate between James Baldwin and William F. Buckley Jr. took place on February 18, 1965, at the Cambridge University Union in England. The discussion centered on the motion “The American Dream is at the Expense of the American Negro.” Baldwin passionately argued that systemic racism in the United States fundamentally contradicted the ideals of the American Dream. He eloquently articulated the harsh realities faced by African Americans, emphasizing the deep-rooted racial inequalities that persisted despite the nation’s espoused principles of freedom and equality.

Baldwin’s argument challenged the audience to confront the pervasive racism ingrained in American society. On the other hand, Buckley defended the motion, contending that progress was being made and that individual responsibility played a significant role. The debate remains a powerful moment in the history of civil rights discourse, showcasing Baldwin’s insightful critique of racial injustice in America.

Fannie Lou Hamer’s Testimony at the 1964 Democratic National Convention

Fannie Lou Hamer delivered a historic and powerful testimony at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.  Hamer, a sharecropper and civil rights activist from Mississippi, passionately recounted the brutal and unjust treatment she endured for attempting to register to vote. Speaking before the credentials committee, she vividly described the physical abuse she suffered in jail, including beatings that left her with permanent injuries.

Hamer’s testimony was a poignant and unfiltered indictment of the systemic racism and violence faced by African Americans seeking to exercise their right to vote in the deeply segregated South. Her fearless and compelling words, ending with her famous declaration, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired,” resonated deeply and brought national attention to the plight of Black voters in the face of disenfranchisement. Hamer’s courageous testimony, significantly contributed to the eventual passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a landmark achievement in the fight for civil rights.

W.E.B. Dubois’ 1905 Niagara Movement Speech

W.E.B. Du Bois delivered a pivotal speech at the founding meeting of the Niagara Movement on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls in 1905. The Niagara Movement was a civil rights group that sought to address racial inequality and advocate for civil rights for African Americans. In his speech, Du Bois emphasized the urgency of addressing systemic racism, discrimination, and disenfranchisement faced by African Americans.

He called for an end to racial segregation, the protection of civil rights, and the promotion of higher education for African Americans. Du Bois’s Niagara Movement speech laid the foundation for his lifelong dedication to civil rights activism and marked a significant moment in the early 20th-century struggle for racial equality in the United States.

“Making the Struggle Everyday” (1974) – Ella Baker 

In her influential speech at the 1974n Puerto Rico solidarity rally, civil rights icon Ella Baker outlined her philosophy that the struggle for racial justice and liberation had to be an ongoing, grassroots effort embedded in daily life, not just periodic moments of activism. Baker called on listeners to make the fight against oppression and inequality a consistent part of their communities through civic engagement, leadership development, cooperative economics, and sustained political participation.

She argued real change comes from the bottom up through ordinary people taking an active role, not just relying on leaders or national movements. The speech reflected her pragmatic vision centered on community empowerment and self-determination beyond just legislative change. Baker emphasized building a “group-centered” movement through organizing, education and mobilization at the neighborhood level to make the struggle an everyday practice, not just a periodic campaign. Her speech provided a powerful blueprint for institutionalizing the fight for justice and freedom through consistent local action.

George Floyd: Five powerful anti-racism speeches in response to his death

• Published 4 June 2020
• comments Comments

Over the last couple of weeks, there have been lots of protests against racism in the United States, and elsewhere in the world.

They started following the death of an African-American man called George Floyd after he was stopped by police in the US.

Racism has been - and continues to be - a big problem in the United States and here in the United Kingdom , too.

Here are parts of five powerful speeches in response to what happened.

What is racism?

Racism is when words or actions are used to discriminate or disadvantage people because of their colour, culture or ethnic origin.

Radio 1 DJ Clara Amfo

Clara is a DJ for BBC Radio 1. On Tuesday she gave an emotional speech to her audience during her programme.

She said: "There is a false idea that racism and in this case anti-Blackness is just name calling and physical violence, when it is so much more... than that.

"One of my favourite thinkers is a woman called Amanda Seales, and she says 'You cannot enjoy the rhythm and ignore the blues.' And I say that with my chest.

"I want to say to our Black listeners, I hope you feel seen and heard today. And to those of you that already let me know that you are doing the work and are committed to doing better, I see you.

"So let's do this. Let's all be anti-racist."

More on this story

Star Wars actor joins thousands for London protest

George Floyd: Why are there huge protests in the US?

Eighth night of US protests in pictures

Tennis player Coco Gauff

US tennis player Coco Gauff was only 15 years old when she beat tennis superstar Venus Williams at Wimbledon last year.

She's now 16 and recently gave a speech at a Black Lives Matter rally in Florida.

We must first love each other, no matter what.

"We must first love each other, no matter what.

"I have spent all week having tough conversations and trying to educate my non-black friends about how they can help the movement.

"Second, we need to take action.

"I am not of the age to vote - it is in your hands to vote for my future, my brothers' future and for your future so that is one way to make change.

"Third, you need to use your voice no matter how big or small your platform is, you need to use your voice.

"I saw a Dr [Martin Luther] King quote that said; 'The silence of the good people is worse than the brutality of the bad people'."

Former US President Barack Obama

The first and only black president of the United States, Barack Obama , went online to give a speech directed to people of colour.

"When I go home and I look at the faces of my daughters, Sasha and Malia, and I look at my nephews and nieces, I see limitless potential that deserves to flourish and thrive...

"And you should be able to learn and make mistakes and live a life of joy without having to worry about what's going to happen when you walk to the store, or go for a jog, or are driving down the street, or looking at some bird in a park.

"So I hope that you also feel hopeful even as you may feel angry because you have the potential to make things better and you have helped to make the entire country feel as if this is something that's gotta change."

I want you to know that you matter, I want you to know that your lives matter, that your dreams matter.

Barack Obama, Former US President

George Floyd's brother Terrence Floyd

At a memorial for his brother George - whose death started the US protests - Terrence spoke to the crowd. He asked them to use their vote to make a difference. Some of the protests in America have seen violence and looting - he asked people to stop.

"In every case of police brutality, the same thing has been happening: Y'all protest; y'all destroy stuff, and they don't move.

"You know why they don't move? Because it's not their stuff. It's our stuff, so they want us to destroy our stuff. So let's do this another way.

"Let's stop thinking that our voice don't matter and vote.

"Let's switch it up, y'all. Let's switch it up and do this peacefully, please. I know [George] would not want y'all to be doing this."

Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle

Meghan Markle was asked to give a virtual speech to her old senior school ahead of their graduation.

She spoke about her experience of the LA riots in 1992 when she was younger and the impact that had on her.

"So the first thing I want to say to you is that I'm sorry. I'm so sorry that you have to grow up in a world where [racism] is still present.

"I was 11 or 12 years old when I was just about to start Immaculate Heart middle school in the [autumn], and it was the LA riots, which were also triggered by a senseless act of racism.

"And those memories don't go away.

"The other thing though, that I do remember about that time, was how people came together.

"We are seeing people stand in solidarity. We are seeing communities come together and to uplift. And you are going to be part of this movement.

"You are going to lead with love, you are going to lead with compassion, you are going to use your voice."

• Published 3 June 2020

England v Bulgaria: What do kids think about racist chanting during the match?

• Published 15 October 2019

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Speech on Racism for Students

Racism is a scourge in any society. Here’s a collection of short speeches on racism, which will help you deliver a speech or presentation on this topic.

1. Speech on Racism

Racism is the discrimination of people of a different race, according to many dictionary definitions. Ironically, scientists believe homo sapiens are the same race with nuances in people’s evolution. In effect, racism is discrimination of people of different slight variations which are often common to the country they originated from. Racism is prevalent in all countries at some time by some people. Today it is a crime in most countries by law. It is illegal in many countries to write discriminatory words that are racist. It is a crime in most countries to behave discriminately in fields of education and employment. As a student, I respected all of my classmates and their traditions, I was also lucky enough to use writingapaper.net , so I could improve my academic performance.

The virtues of tolerance. Tolerance is a key word today with regards to differences of skin color, origin, and ethnicity. Equal rights are an equally important sentiment which is a universal phrase for highlighting the equality between different nuances of people.

The ‘out-group’ perception rising to racism: Ever since mankind has kept records, people of different nationalities have settled in different countries for work, slavery or as invaders. Groups of workers or descendants of slaves can still call as outsiders or foreigners in a racist manner – which is now a crime in most nations. This racism creates an out-group mindset making them feel like aliens.

Racism due to diversity of identity: In some parts of the globe, old and narrow-minded societies consider people inferior or superior on the basis of their skin color, living habits and place of origin. Intolerance is frowned on in educated countries. After all, can anyone choose the way they look? Or from which ethnic origin they came from?

Racism in employment: for thousands of years the rich have sought cheap or free labor. Romans used slaves two thousand years ago and a few hundred years ago slavery from Africa was popular among European nations. These days the rich still seek cheap labor. Those of the poorest nations are often employed by businesses from richer countries to carry out menial work like fishing and baby care. Stigmas can then be fostered about the lowest paid. A good example is cheap care from the Philippines or fishing menial workers from Myanmar.

Respect for our fellow man would stop the cruelty of racism and breed fairer nations. What is clear is the rule of law and education plays a major part in ridding the evils of racism.

Written by E.G.Price (Author of The Zambezi Allies)

2. Racism: The Greatest Evil In Societies

Have you ever judged people because they are from a certain country or belongs to a certain race? Have you ever felt every eye on you knowing that you are being continuously observed and judged? If you haven’t been through this, just imagine how would you like it? Not even a bit, right? So, if we don’t like it, we should never do it to someone else.

Racism can raise its ugly head in many places. It may occur in an active way or a passive way. It may be by exclusion, leaving people who are different out of  social groups and gatherings, not considering their views and experiences, outcasting them aside, calling them names and insulting them. Racism is demonstrated mostly in behavior and activities that reflect a dislike, abuse, violence directed to a certain community. Discrimination based on color, clothing, religion or culture is racism. A strong legal community is needed to protect people targeted by abuse. Learn more about Civil Rights Law at testmaxprep.com .

Discrimination haunts many people worldwide. It can make their life worse, full of pain and struggle. It not only breaks hearts but also wants to make people give up in progressing at work or socially. Loss of a job, loss of promotion, and such events can destroy morale. They can become reasons for venting out of everyday frustration and aggression. Legal systems are evolving all the time and in more advanced countries there are legal instruments of protection in place.

Many major religions rebuke racism. This is true in Christian teachings. According to the Corinthians 12.13 of the Bible :

For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body–Jews or Greeks, slaves or free–and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

Before we judge someone badly or do something cruel to someone, based on color, country of origin or an issue of appearance let’s take a minute and think. Would we like to be in their shoes? Please stand where they are. Would we like to be treated spitefully for no reason other than the way we appear? The answer is no. Then let’s not do something to someone that we wouldn’t like to happen to ourselves. Racism is a vice and it needs to be eradicated.

Read the Speech on Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King

I shall finish with the sage words:

“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” – Nelson Mandela (1994)

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About the author.

FindaSpeech

Talks to help you understand racism in America

From passionate pleas for reform to poetic turns of phrase, these talks take an honest look at everyday realities of Black Americans and illuminate the way forward.

The path to ending systemic racism in the US

The urgency of intersectionality

Color blind or color brave?

How we can make racism a solvable problem -- and improve policing

Racism has a cost for everyone

An interview with the founders of Black Lives Matter

How racism makes us sick

How to deconstruct racism, one headline at a time

How to raise a Black son in America

The danger of a single story

My road trip through the whitest towns in America

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Election 2008

Transcript: barack obama's speech on race, barack obama's "a more perfect union" speech.

Click to view mentions of key words in Obama's speech. hide caption

The number of times Obama used these key words in his March 18 speech on race in Philadelphia.

The following is a transcript of the remarks of Democratic Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, delivered March 18, 2008, in Philadelphia at the Constitution Center. In it, Obama addresses the role race has played in the presidential campaign. He also responds to criticism of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, an unpaid campaign adviser and pastor at Obama's Chicago church. Wright has made inflammatory remarks about the United States and has accused the country of bringing on the Sept. 11 attacks by spreading terrorism.

"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union ..." — 221 years ago, in a hall that still stands across the street, a group of men gathered and, with these simple words, launched America's improbable experiment in democracy. Farmers and scholars, statesmen and patriots who had traveled across an ocean to escape tyranny and persecution finally made real their declaration of independence at a Philadelphia convention that lasted through the spring of 1787.

The document they produced was eventually signed but ultimately unfinished. It was stained by this nation's original sin of slavery, a question that divided the colonies and brought the convention to a stalemate until the founders chose to allow the slave trade to continue for at least 20 more years, and to leave any final resolution to future generations.

Of course, the answer to the slavery question was already embedded within our Constitution — a Constitution that had at its very core the ideal of equal citizenship under the law; a Constitution that promised its people liberty and justice and a union that could be and should be perfected over time.

And yet words on a parchment would not be enough to deliver slaves from bondage, or provide men and women of every color and creed their full rights and obligations as citizens of the United States. What would be needed were Americans in successive generations who were willing to do their part — through protests and struggles, on the streets and in the courts, through a civil war and civil disobedience, and always at great risk — to narrow that gap between the promise of our ideals and the reality of their time.

This was one of the tasks we set forth at the beginning of this presidential campaign — to continue the long march of those who came before us, a march for a more just, more equal, more free, more caring and more prosperous America. I chose to run for president at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together, unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction — toward a better future for our children and our grandchildren.

This belief comes from my unyielding faith in the decency and generosity of the American people. But it also comes from my own story.

I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners — an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.

It's a story that hasn't made me the most conventional of candidates. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts — that out of many, we are truly one.

Throughout the first year of this campaign, against all predictions to the contrary, we saw how hungry the American people were for this message of unity. Despite the temptation to view my candidacy through a purely racial lens, we won commanding victories in states with some of the whitest populations in the country. In South Carolina, where the Confederate flag still flies, we built a powerful coalition of African-Americans and white Americans.

This is not to say that race has not been an issue in this campaign. At various stages in the campaign, some commentators have deemed me either "too black" or "not black enough." We saw racial tensions bubble to the surface during the week before the South Carolina primary. The press has scoured every single exit poll for the latest evidence of racial polarization, not just in terms of white and black, but black and brown as well.

And yet, it has only been in the last couple of weeks that the discussion of race in this campaign has taken a particularly divisive turn.

On one end of the spectrum, we've heard the implication that my candidacy is somehow an exercise in affirmative action; that it's based solely on the desire of wide-eyed liberals to purchase racial reconciliation on the cheap. On the other end, we've heard my former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, use incendiary language to express views that have the potential not only to widen the racial divide, but views that denigrate both the greatness and the goodness of our nation, and that rightly offend white and black alike.

I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy and, in some cases, pain. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in the church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely — just as I'm sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.

But the remarks that have caused this recent firestorm weren't simply controversial. They weren't simply a religious leader's efforts to speak out against perceived injustice. Instead, they expressed a profoundly distorted view of this country — a view that sees white racism as endemic, and that elevates what is wrong with America above all that we know is right with America; a view that sees the conflicts in the Middle East as rooted primarily in the actions of stalwart allies like Israel, instead of emanating from the perverse and hateful ideologies of radical Islam.

As such, Reverend Wright's comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems — two wars, a terrorist threat, a falling economy, a chronic health care crisis and potentially devastating climate change — problems that are neither black or white or Latino or Asian, but rather problems that confront us all.

Given my background, my politics, and my professed values and ideals, there will no doubt be those for whom my statements of condemnation are not enough. Why associate myself with Reverend Wright in the first place, they may ask? Why not join another church? And I confess that if all that I knew of Reverend Wright were the snippets of those sermons that have run in an endless loop on the television sets and YouTube, or if Trinity United Church of Christ conformed to the caricatures being peddled by some commentators, there is no doubt that I would react in much the same way.

But the truth is, that isn't all that I know of the man. The man I met more than 20 years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another, to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a United States Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over 30 years has led a church that serves the community by doing God's work here on Earth — by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS.

In my first book, Dreams From My Father , I describe the experience of my first service at Trinity:

"People began to shout, to rise from their seats and clap and cry out, a forceful wind carrying the reverend's voice up into the rafters. And in that single note — hope! — I heard something else: At the foot of that cross, inside the thousands of churches across the city, I imagined the stories of ordinary black people merging with the stories of David and Goliath, Moses and Pharaoh, the Christians in the lion's den, Ezekiel's field of dry bones. Those stories — of survival and freedom and hope — became our stories, my story. The blood that spilled was our blood, the tears our tears, until this black church, on this bright day, seemed once more a vessel carrying the story of a people into future generations and into a larger world. Our trials and triumphs became at once unique and universal, black and more than black. In chronicling our journey, the stories and songs gave us a meaning to reclaim memories that we didn't need to feel shame about — memories that all people might study and cherish, and with which we could start to rebuild."

That has been my experience at Trinity. Like other predominantly black churches across the country, Trinity embodies the black community in its entirety — the doctor and the welfare mom, the model student and the former gang-banger. Like other black churches, Trinity's services are full of raucous laughter and sometimes bawdy humor. They are full of dancing and clapping and screaming and shouting that may seem jarring to the untrained ear. The church contains in full the kindness and cruelty, the fierce intelligence and the shocking ignorance, the struggles and successes, the love and, yes, the bitterness and biases that make up the black experience in America.

And this helps explain, perhaps, my relationship with Reverend Wright. As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions — the good and the bad — of the community that he has served diligently for so many years.

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can disown my white grandmother — a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed her by on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

These people are a part of me. And they are part of America, this country that I love.

Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing to do would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork. We can dismiss Reverend Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated bias.

But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America — to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.

The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through — a part of our union that we have not yet made perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care or education or the need to find good jobs for every American.

Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how we arrived at this point. As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past isn't dead and buried. In fact, it isn't even past." We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist between the African-American community and the larger American community today can be traced directly to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.

Segregated schools were and are inferior schools; we still haven't fixed them, 50 years after Brown v. Board of Education. And the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today's black and white students.

Legalized discrimination — where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions or the police force or the fire department — meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between blacks and whites, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persist in so many of today's urban and rural communities.

A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family contributed to the erosion of black families — a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods — parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pickup, building code enforcement — all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continues to haunt us.

This is the reality in which Reverend Wright and other African-Americans of his generation grew up. They came of age in the late '50s and early '60s, a time when segregation was still the law of the land and opportunity was systematically constricted. What's remarkable is not how many failed in the face of discrimination, but how many men and women overcame the odds; how many were able to make a way out of no way, for those like me who would come after them.

For all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn't make it — those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations — those young men and, increasingly, young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race and racism continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright's generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or the beauty shop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician's own failings.

And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright's sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour of American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity within the African-American community in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful. And to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.

In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience — as far as they're concerned, no one handed them anything. They built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pensions dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and they feel their dreams slipping away. And in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear an African-American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.

Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren't always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.

Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze — a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns — this too widens the racial divide and blocks the path to understanding.

This is where we are right now. It's a racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years. Contrary to the claims of some of my critics, black and white, I have never been so naïve as to believe that we can get beyond our racial divisions in a single election cycle, or with a single candidacy — particularly a candidacy as imperfect as my own.

But I have asserted a firm conviction — a conviction rooted in my faith in God and my faith in the American people — that, working together, we can move beyond some of our old racial wounds, and that in fact we have no choice if we are to continue on the path of a more perfect union.

For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances — for better health care and better schools and better jobs — to the larger aspirations of all Americans: the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man who has been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for our own lives — by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny.

Ironically, this quintessentially American — and yes, conservative — notion of self-help found frequent expression in Reverend Wright's sermons. But what my former pastor too often failed to understand is that embarking on a program of self-help also requires a belief that society can change.

The profound mistake of Reverend Wright's sermons is not that he spoke about racism in our society. It's that he spoke as if our society was static; as if no progress had been made; as if this country — a country that has made it possible for one of his own members to run for the highest office in the land and build a coalition of white and black, Latino and Asian, rich and poor, young and old — is still irrevocably bound to a tragic past. But what we know — what we have seen — is that America can change. That is the true genius of this nation. What we have already achieved gives us hope — the audacity to hope — for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination — and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past — are real and must be addressed, not just with words, but with deeds, by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.

In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more and nothing less than what all the world's great religions demand — that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's keeper, scripture tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.

For we have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division and conflict and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle — as we did in the O.J. trial — or in the wake of tragedy — as we did in the aftermath of Katrina — or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright's sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she's playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.

We can do that.

But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.

That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time." This time, we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time, we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can't learn; that those kids who don't look like us are somebody else's problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.

This time we want to talk about how the lines in the emergency room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care, who don't have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.

This time, we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time, we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn't look like you might take your job; it's that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.

This time, we want to talk about the men and women of every color and creed who serve together and fight together and bleed together under the same proud flag. We want to talk about how to bring them home from a war that should have never been authorized and should have never been waged. And we want to talk about how we'll show our patriotism by caring for them and their families, and giving them the benefits that they have earned.

I would not be running for President if I didn't believe with all my heart that this is what the vast majority of Americans want for this country. This union may never be perfect, but generation after generation has shown that it can always be perfected. And today, whenever I find myself feeling doubtful or cynical about this possibility, what gives me the most hope is the next generation — the young people whose attitudes and beliefs and openness to change have already made history in this election.

There is one story in particularly that I'd like to leave you with today — a story I told when I had the great honor of speaking on Dr. King's birthday at his home church, Ebenezer Baptist, in Atlanta.

There is a young, 23-year-old white woman named Ashley Baia who organized for our campaign in Florence, S.C. She had been working to organize a mostly African-American community since the beginning of this campaign, and one day she was at a roundtable discussion where everyone went around telling their story and why they were there.

And Ashley said that when she was 9 years old, her mother got cancer. And because she had to miss days of work, she was let go and lost her health care. They had to file for bankruptcy, and that's when Ashley decided that she had to do something to help her mom.

She knew that food was one of their most expensive costs, and so Ashley convinced her mother that what she really liked and really wanted to eat more than anything else was mustard and relish sandwiches — because that was the cheapest way to eat. That's the mind of a 9-year-old.

She did this for a year until her mom got better. So she told everyone at the roundtable that the reason she joined our campaign was so that she could help the millions of other children in the country who want and need to help their parents, too.

Now, Ashley might have made a different choice. Perhaps somebody told her along the way that the source of her mother's problems were blacks who were on welfare and too lazy to work, or Hispanics who were coming into the country illegally. But she didn't. She sought out allies in her fight against injustice.

Anyway, Ashley finishes her story and then goes around the room and asks everyone else why they're supporting the campaign. They all have different stories and different reasons. Many bring up a specific issue. And finally they come to this elderly black man who's been sitting there quietly the entire time. And Ashley asks him why he's there. And he does not bring up a specific issue. He does not say health care or the economy. He does not say education or the war. He does not say that he was there because of Barack Obama. He simply says to everyone in the room, "I am here because of Ashley."

"I'm here because of Ashley." By itself, that single moment of recognition between that young white girl and that old black man is not enough. It is not enough to give health care to the sick, or jobs to the jobless, or education to our children.

But it is where we start. It is where our union grows stronger. And as so many generations have come to realize over the course of the 221 years since a band of patriots signed that document right here in Philadelphia, that is where the perfection begins.

For equality, respect and dignity we must ‘speak as one’ against racism: Guterres

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Racism continues to poison institutions, social structures, and everyday life across all societies, the UN chief said on Friday at a dedicated meeting against what he referred to as a catalyst that “normalizes hate, denies dignity, and spurs violence”.

“It continues to be a driver of persistent inequality…to deny people their fundamental human rights”, added Secretary-General António Guterres in an address to the General Assembly , marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination .

Racism continues to poison institutions, social structures & everyday life in every society.Realizing the vision of a world free of racism & racial discrimination demands action every day, at every level, in every society. pic.twitter.com/IK12F99X47 António Guterres, UN Secretary-General antonioguterres

He argued that racism destabilizes communities worldwide, “undermines democracies, erodes the legitimacy of governments, and stymies an inclusive and sustainable recovery from COVID-19 .”

Commemorated annually on 21 March, he described the day as “both a day of recognition and an urgent call to action”.

Unequivocal links

The top UN official drew attention to the links between racism and gender inequality, pointing to overlapping and intersecting discrimination suffered by women of colour and minority groups. 

Moreover, he continued, “no country is immune from intolerance, nor free of hate.”

“Africans and people of African descent, Asians and people of Asian descent, minority communities, indigenous peoples, migrants, refugees, and so many others – all continue to confront stigmatization, scapegoating, discrimination, and violence”.

‘Bedrock’ of societies

This year’s theme – “Voices for Action against Racism” – calls on everyone to listen closely, speak out loudly, and act decisively.

“ We all have a responsibility to engage in solidarity with movements for equality and human rights everywhere . And we must extend solidarity to everyone fleeing conflict,” said the UN chief, urging the world to “speak out against hate speech – offline and online.”

He upheld the need to defend civic space by protecting free expression and assembly, describing it is “the bedrock of pluralist, peaceful and inclusive societies”. 

‘Dismantle discriminatory structures’

Mr. Guterres called for a rights-based social contract “to tackle poverty and exclusion, invest in education, and rebuild trust and social cohesion.”

“We must listen to those experiencing injustice and ensure their concerns and demands are at the centre of efforts to dismantle discriminatory structures,” he insisted.

He made a case for “reparatory justice” to realize racial equality and atone in a substantive way for centuries of enslavement and colonialism.

“Historical injustices manifest themselves in poverty, underdevelopment, marginalization, and social instability for entire communities and countries,” he reminded. “It is time to recognize and repair longstanding wrongs”.

It is time to recognize and repair longstanding wrongs -- UN chief

Repairing the past

A just future, requires mending a discriminatory past, in line with international human rights obligations and commitments, he said.

The UN chief encouraged States to accelerate racial justice and equality through the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action; the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination ; the Agenda Towards Transformative Change for Racial Justice and Equality ; and the UN’s Permanent Forum of People of African Descent . 

He called for concrete action through policies, legislation, and “more granular data collection” to support efforts at national and global levels.

The UN has launched its own internal strategic action plan on addressing racism, he reminded, that outlines concrete measures to tackle racism in the workplace through accountability – for which a Special Adviser and Steering Group are due to be appointed. 

“Together, we are committed to making sure people of every race, ethnicity, colour, gender, religion, creed and sexual orientation, enjoy a sense of belonging and safety , and have an equal opportunity to contribute to the success of our United Nations,” he stated

Action every day, at every level, in every society is demanded to achieve a world free of racism and racial discrimination.  “Let us unite around our common humanity and speak as one for equality, respect, justice and dignity for all,” concluded the UN chief.

Paying tribute to Ukraine

Hosting the event, General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid, began by expressing his “deepest concerns” over the violence waged against civilians, and particularly women and girls, in Ukraine.

As families continue to seek refuge and security in new locations, he said, “our thoughts are with the people of Ukraine.”

A goal not realized

Since the day was established more than half a century ago, the elimination of racial discrimination has continued to elude us, Mr. Shahid reminded the participants.

Despite that the International Convention has reached near universal ratification, he observed, “we continue to see an increase in hate speech, intolerance, and racism, especially against minorities.”

“ Our moral failure to eliminate racial discrimination is a failure against everything we stand for in the Hall of this Assembly”, he declared.

‘Overt stereotyping’

The Assembly President drew attention to the long-lasting consequences of racial discrimination, noting that the COVID pandemic has served to exacerbate underlying and long-standing inequalities that plague societies at large, including racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and other forms of intolerance.

Many marginalized and vulnerable people have lost decades of precious gains, especially in their social, economic, civil, and political lives, he said.

We have a moral obligation to tackle racism in all its forms -- UN Assembly President

“Let me be clear: Racial discrimination is an overt stereotyping and prejudice that arises from hate speech and hate propaganda ,” Mr. Shahid spelled out.

A moral obligation

Rather than acknowledging the beauty of diversity, he maintained that racism gives birth to violence and strengthens inequalities.

“We can and we must do better,” said the Assembly president. “We have a moral obligation to tackle racism in all its forms.”

Going forward, he encouraged national governments, civil society organizations, and the private sector to “work together to eliminate racial discrimination.”

• International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Speech: “We must be united to end racism as well as gender inequality”

Date: Wednesday, 17 June 2020

[As delivered]

Madam President, distinguished delegates,

UN Women believes that women are part of their lived experiences. These experiences impact on who they become, as well as on their families. These experiences may be religious, racial, cultural, or related to sexual orientation.

The Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent have highlighted that girls and women of African Descent are likely to be poorer, to be less educated and to have fewer opportunities everywhere in the world.

We are now seeing an outpouring of solidarity, with people protesting in the streets against systemic and brutal racism.

We need to fight against racism, too, in our own institutions and everywhere in the world; because only if we are united, we will build back together after COVID-19.

In fighting apartheid, it took people of the world also to be in solidarity and to fight together and help to end apartheid.

This time has come again. We must be united to end racism as well as gender inequality in the world.

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WILLIAM J. CLINTON, “RACISM IN THE UNITED STATES” (16 OCTOBER 1995)

[1] Thank you. You know, when I was a boy growing up in Arkansas, I thought it highly [audience interruption] unlikely that I would ever become President of the United States. Perhaps the only thing even more unlikely was that I should ever have the opportunity to be cheered at the University of Texas. [applause and laughter] I must say I am very grateful for both of them. [laughter]

[2] President Berdahl, Chancellor Cunningham, Dean Olson; to the Texas Longhorn Band, thank you for playing Hail to the Chief. [applause] You were magnificent. [applause] To my longtime friend of nearly 25 years now, Bernard Rappoport, thank you for your statement and your inspiration and your life of generous giving to this great university and so many other good causes. [applause].

[3] All the distinguished guests in the audience–I hesitate to start, but I thank my friend and your fellow Texan, Henry Cisneros, for coming down here with me and for his magnificent work as Secretary of HUD. [applause]

[4] I thank your Congressman, Lloyd Doggett, and his wife, Libby, for flying down with me. [applause] And I’m glad to see my dear friend Congressman Jake Pickle here; I miss you. [applause] Your attorney general, Dan Morales; the land commissioner, Garry Mauro, I thank all of them for being here. [applause]

[5] Thank you, Lucy Johnson, for being here. [applause] And please give my regards to your wonderful mother. [applause]

[6] I have not seen her here–there she is. And I have to recognize and thank your former Congresswoman and now distinguished professor, Barbara Jordan, for the magnificent job you did on the immigration issue. Thank you so much. [applause] Thank you. Thank you. [applause]

[7] My wife told me about coming here so much, I wanted to come and see for myself. I also know, as all of you do, that there is no such thing as saying no to Liz Carpenter. [laughter] I drug it out as long as I could just to hear a few more jokes. [laughter]

[8] My fellow Americans, I want to begin by telling you that I am hopeful about America. When I looked at Nikole Bell up here introducing me and I shook hands with these other young students–I looked into their eyes; I saw the AmeriCorps button on that gentleman’s shirt–[applause]–I was reminded, as I talk about this thorny subject of race today, I was reminded of what Winston Churchill said about the United States when President Roosevelt was trying to pass the Lend-Lease Act so that we could help Britain in their war against Nazi Germany before we, ourselves, were involved. And for a good while the issue was hanging fire, and it was unclear whether the Congress would permit us to help Britain, who at that time was the only bulwark against tyranny in Europe.

[9] And Winston Churchill said, “I have great confidence in the judgment and the common sense of the American people and their leaders. They invariably do the right thing after they have examined every other alternative.” [laughter] So I say to you, let me begin by saying that I can see in the eyes of these students and in the spirit of this moment, we will do the right thing.

[10] In recent weeks, every one of us has been made aware of a simple truth–white Americans and black Americans often see the same world in drastically different ways–ways that go beyond and beneath the Simpson trial and its aftermath, which brought these perceptions so starkly into the open.

[11] The rift we see before us that is tearing at the heart of America exists in spite of the remarkable progress black Americans have made in the last generation, since Martin Luther King swept America up in his dream and President Johnson spoke so powerfully for the dignity of man and the destiny of democracy in demanding that Congress guarantee full voting rights to blacks. The rift between blacks and whites exists still in a very special way in America, in spite of the fact that we have become much more racially and ethnically diverse and that Hispanic-Americans–themselves no strangers to discrimination–are now almost 10 percent of our national population.

[12] The reasons for this divide are many. Some are rooted in the awful history and stubborn persistence of racism. Some are rooted in the different ways we experience the threats of modern life to personal security, family values, and strong communities. Some are rooted in the fact that we still haven’t learned to talk frankly, to listen carefully, and to work together across racial lines.

[13] Almost 30 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King took his last march with sanitation workers in Memphis. They marched for dignity, equality, and economic justice. Many carried placards that read simply, “I am a man.” The throngs of men marching in Washington today, almost all of them, are doing so for the same stated reason. But there is a profound difference between this march today and those of 30 years ago. Thirty years ago, the marchers were demanding the dignity and opportunity they were due because in the face of terrible discrimination, they had worked hard, raised their children, paid their taxes, obeyed the laws, and fought our wars.

[14] Well, today’s march is also about pride and dignity and respect. But after a generation of deepening social problems that disproportionately impact black Americans, it is also about black men taking renewed responsibility for themselves, their families, and their communities. [applause] It’s about saying no to crime and drugs and violence. It’s about standing up for atonement and reconciliation. It’s about insisting that others do the same and offering to help them. It’s about the frank admission that unless black men shoulder their load, no one else can help them or their brothers, their sisters, and their children escape the hard, bleak lives that too many of them still face.

[15] Of course, some of those in the march do have a history that is far from its message of atonement and reconciliation. One million men are right to be standing up for personal responsibility. But one million men do not make right one man’s message of malice and division. [applause] No good house was ever built on a bad foundation. Nothing good ever came of hate. So let us pray today that all who march and all who speak will stand for atonement, for reconciliation, for responsibility.

[16] Let us pray that those who have spoken for hatred and division in the past will turn away from that past and give voice to the true message of those ordinary Americans who march. If that happens–[applause]– if that happens, the men and the women who are there with them will be marching into better lives for themselves and their families. And they could be marching into a better future for America. [applause]

[17] Today we face a choice–one way leads to further separation and bitterness and more lost futures. The other way, the path of courage and wisdom, leads to unity, to reconciliation, to a rich opportunity for all Americans to make the most of the lives God gave them. This moment in which the racial divide is so clearly out in the open need not be a setback for us. It presents us with a great opportunity, and we dare not let it pass us by. [applause]

[18] In the past, when we’ve had the courage to face the truth about our failure to live up to our own best ideals, we’ve grown stronger, moved forward, and restored proud American optimism. At such turning points, America moved to preserve the Union and abolish slavery, to embrace women’s suffrage, to guarantee basic legal rights to America without regard to race, under the leadership of President Johnson. At each of these moments, we looked in the national mirror and were brave enough to say, this is not who we are; we’re better than that.

[19] Abraham Lincoln reminded us that a house divided against itself cannot stand. When divisions have threatened to bring our house down, somehow we have always moved together to shore it up. My fellow Americans, our house is the greatest democracy in all human history. And with all its racial and ethnic diversity, it has beaten the odds of human history. But we know that divisions remain, and we still have work to do. [applause]

[20] The two worlds we see now each contain both truth and distortion. Both black and white Americans must face this, for honesty is the only gateway to the many acts of reconciliation that will unite our worlds at last into one America.

[21] White America must understand and acknowledge the roots of black pain. It began with unequal treatment, first in law and later in fact. African Americans indeed have lived too long with a justice system that in too many cases has been and continues to be less than just. [applause] The record of abuses extends from lynchings and trumped up charges to false arrests and police brutality. The tragedies of Emmett Till and Rodney King are bloody markers on the very same road.

[22] Still today, too many of our police officers play by the rules of the bad old days. It is beyond wrong when law-abiding black parents have to tell their law-abiding children to fear the police whose salaries are paid by their own taxes. [applause]

[23] And blacks are right to think something is terribly wrong when African American men are many times more likely to be victims of homicide than any other group in this country, when there are more African American men in our corrections system than in our colleges, when almost one in three African American men in their twenties are either in jail, on parole, or otherwise under the supervision of the criminal justice system–nearly one in three. And that is a disproportionate percentage in comparison to the percentage of blacks who use drugs in our society. Now, I would like every white person here and in America to take a moment to think how he or she would feel if one in three white men were in similar circumstances.

[24] And there is still unacceptable economic disparity between blacks and whites. It is so fashionable to talk today about African Americans as if they have been some sort of protected class. Many whites think blacks are getting more than their fair share in terms of jobs and promotions. That is not true. [applause] That is not true. [applause]

[25] The truth is that African Americans still make on average about 60 percent of what white people do, that more than half of African American children live in poverty. And at the very time our young Americans need access to college more than ever before, black college enrollment is dropping in America.

[26] On the other hand, blacks must understand and acknowledge the roots of white fear in America. There is a legitimate fear of the violence that is too prevalent in our urban areas; and often, by experience or at least what people see on the news at night, violence for those white people too often has a black face.

[27] It isn’t racist for a parent to pull his or her child close when walking through a high-crime neighborhood or to wish to stay away from neighborhoods where innocent children can be shot in school or standing at bus stops by thugs driving by with assault weapons or toting handguns like old west desperadoes. [applause]

[28] It isn’t racist for parents to recoil in disgust when they read about a national survey of gang members saying that two-thirds of them feel justified in shooting someone simply for showing them disrespect. It isn’t racist for whites to say they don’t understand why people put up with gangs on the corner or in the projects or with drugs being sold in the schools or in the open. It’s not racist for whites to assert that the culture of welfare dependency, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, and absent fatherhood cannot be broken by social programs unless there is first more personal responsibility. [applause]

[29] The great potential for this march today, beyond the black community, is that whites will come to see a larger truth–that blacks share their fears and embrace their convictions, openly assert that without changes in the black community and within individuals, real change for our society will not come.

[30] This march could remind white people that most black people share their old-fashioned American values–[applause]–for most black Americans still do work hard, care for their families, pay their taxes, and obey the law, often under circumstances which are far more difficult than those their white counterparts face. [applause]

[31] Imagine how you would feel if you were a young parent in your 20s with a young child living in a housing project, working somewhere for $5 an hour with no health insurance, passing every day people on the street selling drugs, making 100 times what you make. Those people are the real heroes of America today, and we should recognize that. [loud applause and cheers]

[32] And white people too often forget that they are not immune to the problems black Americans face–crime, drugs, domestic abuse, and teen pregnancy. They are too prevalent among whites as well, and some of those problems are growing faster in our white population than in our minority population. [applause]

[33] So we all have a stake in solving these common problems together. It is therefore wrong for white Americans to do what they have done too often simply to move further away from the problems and support policies that will only make them worse. [applause]

[34] Finally, both sides seem to fear deep down inside that they’ll never quite be able to see each other as more than enemy faces, all of whom carry at least a sliver of bigotry in their hearts. Differences of opinion rooted in different experiences are healthy, indeed essential, for democracies. But differences so great and so rooted in race threaten to divide the house Mr. Lincoln gave his life to save. As Dr. King said, “We must learn to live together as brothers, or we will perish as fools.” [applause]

[35] Recognizing one another’s real grievances is only the first step. We must all take responsibility for ourselves, our conduct, and our attitudes. America, we must clean our house of racism. [applause]

[36] To our white citizens, I say, I know most of you every day do your very best by your own lights to live a life free of discrimination. Nevertheless, too many destructive ideas are gaining currency in our midst. The taped voice of one policeman should fill you with outrage. [applause] And so I say, we must clean the house of white America of racism. Americans who are in the white majority should be proud to stand up and be heard denouncing the sort of racist rhetoric we heard on that tape–so loudly and clearly denouncing it that our black fellow citizens can hear us. White racism may be black people’s burden, but it’s white people’s problem. [applause] We must clean our house. [applause]

[37] To our black citizens, I honor the presence of hundreds of thousands of men in Washington today committed to atonement and to personal responsibility and the commitment of millions of other men and women who are African Americans to this cause. I call upon you to build on this effort, to share equally in the promise of America. But to do that, your house, too, must be cleaned of racism. There are too many today–[applause]–there are too many today, white and black, on the left and the right, on the street corners and the radio waves, who seek to sow division for their own purposes. To them I say, no more. We must be one. [applause]

[38] Long before we were so diverse, our Nation’s motto was E Pluribus Unum–out of many, we are one. We must be one–as neighbors, as fellow citizens, not separate camps but family–white, black, Latino, all of us, no matter how different, who share basic American values and are willing to live by them.

[39] When a child is gunned down on a street in the Bronx, no matter what our race, he is our American child. When a woman dies from a beating, no matter what our race or hers, she is our American sister. [applause] And every time drugs course through the vein of another child, it clouds the future of all our American children. [applause]

[40] Whether we like it or not, we are one nation, one family, indivisible. And for us, divorce or separation are not options. [applause]

[41] Here in 1995, on the edge of the 21st century, we dare not tolerate the existence of two Americas. Under my watch, I will do everything I can to see that as soon as possible there is only one–one America under the rule of law, one social contract committed not to winner-take-all but to giving all Americans a chance to win together–one America. [applause]

[42] Well, how do we get there? First, today I ask every governor, every mayor, every business leader, every church leader, every civic leader, every union steward, every student leader–most important, every citizen–in every workplace and learning place and meeting place all across America to take personal responsibility for reaching out to people of different races; for taking time to sit down and talk through this issue; to have the courage to speak honestly and frankly; and then to have the discipline to listen quietly with an open mind and an open heart, as others do the same. [applause]

[43] This may seem like a simple request, but for tens of millions of Americans, this has never been a reality. They have never spoken, and they have never listened–not really, not really. [applause] I am convinced, based on a rich lifetime of friendships and common endeavors with people of different races, that the American people will find out they have a lot more in common than they think they do. [applause]

[44] The second thing we have to do is to defend and enhance real opportunity. I’m not talking about opportunity for black Americans or opportunity for white Americans; I’m talking about opportunity for all Americans. [applause] Sooner or later, all our speaking, all our listening, all our caring has to lead to constructive action together for our words and our intentions to have meaning. We can do this first by truly rewarding work and family in government policies, in employment policies, in community practices.

[45] We also have to realize that there are some areas of our country–whether in urban areas or poor rural areas like south Texas or eastern Arkansas–where these problems are going to be more prevalent just because there is no opportunity. There is only so much temptation some people can stand when they turn up against a brick wall day after day after day. And if we can spread the benefits of education and free enterprise to those who have been denied them too long and who are isolated in enclaves in this country, then we have a moral obligation to do it. It will be good for our country. [applause]

[46] Third and perhaps most important of all, we have to give every child in this country, and every adult who still needs it, the opportunity to get a good education. [applause] President Johnson understood that; and now that I am privileged to have this job and to look back across the whole sweep of American history, I can appreciate how truly historic his commitment to the simple idea that every child in this country ought to have an opportunity to get a good, safe, decent, fulfilling education was. It was revolutionary then, and it is revolutionary today. [applause]

[47] Today that matters more than ever. I’m trying to do my part. I am fighting hard against efforts to roll back family security, aid to distressed communities, and support for education. I want it to be easier for poor children to get off to a good start in school, not harder. I want it to be easier for everybody to go to college and stay there, not harder. [applause] I want to mend affirmative action, but I do not think America is at a place today where we can end it. The evidence of the last several weeks shows that. [applause]

[48] But let us remember, the people marching in Washington today are right about one fundamental thing–at its base, this issue of race is not about government or political leaders; it is about what is in the heart and minds and life of the American people. There will be no progress in the absence of real responsibility on the part of all Americans. Nowhere is that responsibility more important than in our efforts to promote public safety and preserve the rule of law.

[49] Law and order is the first responsibility of government. Our citizens must respect the law and those who enforce it. Police have a life and death responsibility never, never to abuse the power granted them by the people. We know, by the way, what works in fighting crime also happens to improve relationships between the races. What works in fighting crime is community policing. We have seen it working all across America. The crime rate is down, the murder rate is down where people relate to each other across the lines of police and community in an open, honest, respectful, supportive way. We can lower crime and raise the state of race relations in America if we will remember this simple truth. [applause]

[50] But if this is going to work, police departments have to be fair and engaged with, not estranged from, their communities. I am committed to making this kind of community policing a reality all across our country. But you must be committed to making it a reality in your communities. We have to root out the remnants of racism in our police departments. We’ve got to get it out of our entire criminal justice system. But just as the police have a sacred duty to protect the community fairly, all of our citizens have a sacred responsibility to respect the police; to teach our young people to respect them; and then to support them and work with them so that they can succeed in making us safer. [applause]

[51] Let’s not forget, most police officers of whatever race are honest people who love the law and put their lives on the lines so that the citizens they’re protecting can lead decent, secure lives, and so that their children can grow up to do the same.

[52] Finally, I want to say, on the day of this march, a moment about a crucial area of responsibility–the responsibility of fatherhood. The single biggest social problem in our society may be the growing absence of fathers from their children’s homes, because it contributes to so many other social problems. One child in four grows up in a fatherless home. Without a father to help guide, without a father to care, without a father to teach boys to be men and to teach girls to expect respect from men, it’s harder. [applause] There are a lot of mothers out there doing a magnificent job alone–[applause]–a magnificent job alone, but it is harder. It is harder. [applause] This, of course, is not a black problem or a Latino problem or a white problem; it is an American problem. But it aggravates the conditions of the racial divide.

[53] I know from my own life it is harder, because my own father died before I was born, and my stepfather’s battle with alcohol kept him from being the father he might have been. But for all fathers, parenting is not easy, and every parent makes mistakes. I know that, too, from my own experience. The point is that we need people to be there for their children day after day. Building a family is the hardest job a man can do, but it’s also the most important.

[54] For those who are neglecting their children, I say it is not too late; your children still need you. To those who only send money in the form of child support, I say keep sending the checks; your kids count on them, and we’ll catch you and enforce the law if you stop. [applause and cheers] But the message of this march today–one message is that your money is no replacement for your guiding, your caring, your loving the children you brought into this world. [applause]

[55] We can only build strong families when men and women respect each other; when they have partnerships’ when men are as involved in the home place as women have become involved in the workplace. [applause] It means, [applause] among other things, that we must keep working until we end domestic violence against women and children. [applause] I hope those men in Washington today pledge among other things to never, never raise their hand in violence against a woman. [applause]

[56] So today, my fellow Americans, I honor the black men marching in Washington to demonstrate their commitment to themselves, their families, and their communities. I honor the millions of men and women in America, the vast majority of every color, who without fanfare or recognition do what it takes to be good fathers and good mothers, good workers and good citizens. They all deserve the thanks of America. [applause]

[57] But when we leave here today, what are you going to do? What are you going to do? Let all of us who want to stand up against racism do our part to roll back the divide. Begin by seeking out people in the workplace, the classroom, the community, the neighborhood across town, the places of worship to actually sit down and have those honest conversations I talked about–conversations where we speak openly and listen and understand how others view this world of ours.

[58] Make no mistake about it, we can bridge this great divide. This is, after all, a very great country. And we have become great by what we have overcome. We have the world’s strongest economy, and it’s on the move. But we’ve really lasted because we have understood that our success could never be measured solely by the size of our Gross National Product. [applause]

[59] I believe the march in Washington today spawned such an outpouring because it is a reflection of something deeper and stronger that is running throughout our American community. I believe that in millions and millions of different ways, our entire country is reasserting our commitment to the bedrock values that made our country great and that make life worth living.

[60] The great divides of the past called for and were addressed by legal and legislative changes. They were addressed by leaders like Lyndon Johnson, who passed the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. [applause] And to be sure, this great divide requires a public response by democratically-elected leaders. But today, we are really dealing, and we know it, with problems that grow in large measure out of the way all of us look at the world with our minds and the way we feel about the world with our hearts.

[61] And therefore, while leaders and legislation may be important, this is work that has to be done by every single one of you. [applause] And this is the ultimate test of our democracy, for today the house divided exists largely in the minds and hearts of the American people. And it must be united there, in the minds and hearts of our people.

[62] Yes, there are some who would poison our progress by selling short the great character of our people and our enormous capacity to change and grow. But they will not win the day; we will win the day. [applause]

[63] With your help–with your help–that day will come a lot sooner. I will do my part, but you, my fellow citizens, must do yours.

[64] Thank you, and God bless you. [applause]

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Black Lives Matter: Martin Luther King, Jr.’s 1967 speech at Stanford

On April 14, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a speech at Stanford about racism and civil rights in American society. He touched on many of the issues that resonate today: racism, poverty and violence versus nonviolent social activism. He noted that the poor “find themselves perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity.” Watch the full video of the speech and a short video excerpt .

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Obama to Young Black Americans: "I Want You to Know That You Matter"

The former president addressed the recent protests and outlined ways to reform police across the U.S.

"I want you to know that you matter, I want you to know that your lives matter, that your dreams matter," Obama said while addressing Black youth in America during his speech. He also tied in their experiences with his own family's. "And when I go home and I look at the faces of my daughters, Sasha and Malia, and I look at my nephews and nieces, I see limitless potential that deserves to flourish and thrive, and you should be able to learn and make mistakes and live a life of joy without having to worry about what's going to happen when you walk to the store or go for a jog or are driving down the street or looking at some birds in a park."

The 44th president participated in a town hall on police violence with community leaders and activists today via Zoom as he responded to recent events. The event was arranged by the My Brother's Keeper Alliance , an Obama Foundation organization that supports boys and young men of color and their communities.

During his fifteen-minute statement, the former POTUS acknowledged the work of protesters and organizers, but also called for action from citizens and local leaders. To those wondering whether it's more impactful to vote or rally, Obama said both. "This is not an 'either, or' this is a 'both, and,'" he explained. "To bring about real change, we both have to highlight a problem and make people in power uncomfortable, but we also have to translate that into practical solutions and laws that could be implemented and we can monitor and make sure we're following up on."

He also urged every mayor in the U.S. "to review your use of force policies for members of your community and commit to report on planned reforms," and pointed to a mayoral pledge they can take to improve police protocol in their towns.

Later in the town hall, Obama also spoke with activist and organizer Brittany Packnett Cunningham, about specific changes local governments can make to reduce police violence. The 8 Can't Wait campaign suggests changes like banning chokeholds, warning before shooting, and requiring comprehensive reporting.

Read President Obama's full speech below.

Good afternoon, everybody, all the participants on the panelists. Let me start by just acknowledging that we have seen in the last several weeks, last few months, the kinds of epic changes and events in our country that are as profound as anything that I've seen in my lifetime. And I'm now a lot older [...] I’m going to be 59 soon.

And let me begin by acknowledging that, although all of us have been feeling pain, uncertainty, disruption, some folks have been feeling it more than others.

Most of all the pain that's been experienced by the families of George and Breonna, Ahmaud, Tony and Sean, and too many others to mention, those that we thought about during that moment silence. And to those families who've been directly affected by tragedy, please know that Michelle and I, and the nation, grieve with you, hold you in our prayers. We're committed to the fight of creating a more just nation in memory of your sons and daughters. And we can't forget, but even as we're confronting the particular acts of violence that led to those losses, our nation and the world is still in the midst of a global pandemic. That's exposed the vulnerabilities of our healthcare system, but also the disparate treatment, and as a consequence, the disparate impact that exists in our healthcare system. The unequal investment, the biases that have led to a disproportionate number of infections and loss of life in communities of color. So in a lot of ways, what has happened over the last several weeks challenges and structural problems here in the United States that have been thrown into high relief.

They are the outcomes, not just of the immediate moments in time, but, they're the result of a long history of slavery, Jim Crow, redlining, institutionalized racism too often have been the plague, this original sin of our society.

And in some ways, as tragic as these past few weeks have been, as difficult and scary and uncertain as they've been, they've also been an incredible opportunity for people to be awakened to some of these underlying trends. And they offer an opportunity for us to all work together, to tackle them, to take them on, to change America and make it live up to its highest ideals.

And part of what's made me so hopeful is the fact that so many young people have been galvanized and activated and motivated and mobilized. Because historically, so much of the progress that we've made in our society has been because of young people. Dr. King was a young man when he got involved, Cesar Chavez was a young man. Malcolm X was a young man. That the leaders of the feminist movement were young people. Leaders of union movements were young people. The leaders of the environmental movement in this country and the movement to make sure that the LGBT community finally had a voice and was represented where young people. And so when I sometimes I feel despair, I just see what's happening with young people all across the country and the talent and the voice and the sophistication that they're displaying. And it makes me feel optimistic. It makes me feel as if this country is going to get better.

Now I want to speak directly to the young men and women of color in this country, who, as Playon [Patrick] just so eloquently described, have witnessed too much violence and too much death. And too often, some of that violence has come from folks who were supposed to be serving and protecting you. I want you to know that you matter, I want you to know that your lives matter, that your dreams matter. And when I go home and I look at the faces of my daughters, Sasha and Malia, and I look at my nephews and nieces, I see limitless potential that deserves to flourish and thrive and you should be able to learn and make mistakes and live a life of joy without having to worry about what's going to happen when you walk to the store or go for a jog or are driving down the street or looking at some birds in a park.

And so I hope that you also feel how hopeful, even as you may feel angry, because you have the power to make things better and you have helped to make the entire country feel as if this is something that's got to change. You've communicated a sense of urgency that is as powerful and as transformative as anything that I've seen in recent years.

I want to acknowledge the folks in law enforcement that share the goals of re-imagining police, because there are folks out there who took their oath to serve your communities and your countries have a tough job. And I know you're just as outraged about tragedies in recent weeks as are many of the protesters. And so we're grateful for the vast majority of you protect and serve. I've been heartened to see those in law enforcement who recognize, "Let me March, along with these protesters, let me stand side by side and recognize that I want to be part of the solution," and who've shown restraint and volunteered and engaged and listened. Cause you're a vital part of the conversation and, and change is going to require everybody's participation.

Now when I was in office, as was mentioned, I created a task force on 21st Century Policing in the wake of tragic killing of Michael Brown, that task force, which included law enforcement and community leaders and activists was charged to develop a very specific set of recommendations to strengthen public trust and foster, better working relationships between law enforcement and communities that they're supposed to protect, even as they're continuing to promote effective crime reduction. And that report showcased a range of solutions and strategies that were proven or based on data and research to improve community policing and collect better data and reporting and identify and do something about implicit bias in how police were trained and reforms to use the force, the police deploy in ways that increase safety rather than precipitate tragedy. And that report demonstrated something that's critical for us today.

Most of the reforms that are needed to prevent the type of violence and injustices that we've seen take place at the local level. Reform has to take place in more than 19,000 American municipalities, more than 18,000 local enforcement jurisdictions. And so, as activists and everyday citizens raise their voices, we need to be clear about where change is going to happen and how we can bring about that change. It is mayors and County executives that appoint most police chiefs and negotiate collective bargaining agreements for police [officers], and that determines police practices in local communities. It's district attorneys and state's attorneys that decide typically whether or not to investigate and ultimately charge those involved in police misconduct. And those are all elected positions. And in some places there are police community review boards with the power to monitor police conduct. Those often times maybe elected as well. That the bottom line is, I've been hearing a little bit of chatter in the internet about voting versus protest; politics and participation versus civil disobedience and direct action. This is not an "either, or" this is a "both, and." To bring about real change, we both have to highlight a problem and make people in power uncomfortable, but we also have to translate that into practical solutions and laws that could be implemented and we can monitor and make sure we're following up on.

So very quick, let me just close with a couple of specific things. What can we do? Number one, we know there are specific evidence based reforms that if we put in place today would build trust, save lives would not show an increase in crime. Those are included in the 21st Century Policing Task Force Report. You can find it on Obama.org. Number two, a lot of mayors and local elected officials read and supported the task force report, but then there wasn't enough follow up. So today, I am urging every mayor in this country to review your use of force policies for members of your community and commit to report on planned reforms.

What are the specific steps you can take? And I should add, by the way, that the original task force report was done several years ago; since that time, we've actually collected data in part because we implemented some of these reform ideas. So we now have more information and more data as to what works. And there are organizations like Campaign Zero and Color of Change and others that are out there highlighting what the data shows, what works, what doesn't in terms of reducing incidents of police misconduct and violence. Let's go ahead and start implementing those. So we need mayors, county executives, others who are in positions of power to say, this is a priority. This is a specific response. Number three, every city in this country should be a My Brother's Keeper community because we have 250 cities, counties, tribal nations who are working to reduce the barriers and expand opportunity for boys and young men of color through programs and policy reforms, public-private partnerships. So go to our website, get working with that because it can make a difference.

And let me just close by saying this. I've heard some people say that you have a pandemic, then you have these protests... This reminds people of the '60s and the chaos and the discord and distrust throughout the country. I have to tell you, although I was very young when you had riots and protests and assassinations and discord back in the '60s, I know enough about that history to say, there is something different here.

You look at those protests and that was a far more representative cross section of America out on the streets, peacefully protesting, and who felt moved to do something because of the injustices that they had seen. That didn't exist back in the 1960s, that kind of broad coalition. The fact that recent surveys that showed that despite some protests having been marred by the actions of some, a tiny minority that engaged in violence, you know, as usual that got a lot of attention and a lot of focus, despite all that a majority of Americans still think those protests were justified. That wouldn't have existed 30, 40, 50 years ago. There is a change in mindset that's taking place, a greater recognition that we can do better. That is not as a consequences speeches by politicians. That's not the result of spotlights in news articles. That's a direct result of the activities and organizing and mobilization and engagement of so many young people across the country who put themselves out on the line to make a difference. And so I just had to say, thank you to them for helping to bring about this moment and just make sure that we now follow through, because at some point, attention moves away. At some point, protests start to dwindle in size. And it's very important for us to take the momentum that has been created as a society, as a country and say, let's used this to finally have an impact. All right. Thank you everybody. I'm proud of you guys. And, I know that, uh, we're going to be hearing from a bunch of people who have been on the front lines on this and know a lot more than I do about it. Proud of you.

Erica Gonzales is the Senior Culture Editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage on TV, movies, music, books, and more. She was previously an editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com. There is a 75 percent chance she's listening to Lorde right now. 

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“By Any Means Necessary”: Watch Malcolm X’s Speech on Racism & Self-Defense at Audubon Ballroom

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Malcolm X was born 98 years ago today, on May 19, 1925, and assassinated at age 39 on February 21, 1965, as he spoke before a packed audience in the Audubon Ballroom in New York City. We end today’s show remembering his life and legacy with an excerpt of a speech Malcolm X gave at the Audubon Ballroom about half a year earlier called “By Any Means Necessary.”

More from this Interview

• Part 1: Malcolm X at 98: Angela Davis on His Enduring Legacy & the “Long Struggle for Liberation”
• Part 2: Ben Crump, Attorney for Malcolm X’s Family: “We Refuse to Let Anybody Exterminate Black History”
• Part 3: “By Any Means Necessary”: Watch Malcolm X’s Speech on Racism & Self-Defense at Audubon Ballroom
• Part 4: Remembering Malcolm X: Angela Davis, Ilyasah Shabazz, Ben Crump & Others Speak at the Shabazz Center

AMY GOODMAN : We end today’s show with Malcolm X in his own words, speaking in 1964.

MALCOLM X: One of the first things that the independent African nations did was to form an organization called the Organization of African Unity. … The purpose of our … Organization of Afro-American Unity, which has the same aim and objective to fight whoever gets in our way, to bring about the complete independence of people of African descent here in the Western Hemisphere, and first here in the United States, and bring about the freedom of these people by any means necessary. That’s our motto. …

The purpose of our organization is to start right here in Harlem, which has the largest concentration of people of African descent that exists anywhere on this Earth. There are more Africans here in Harlem than exist in any city on the African continent, because that’s what you and I are: Africans. …

The Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights are the principles in which we believe, and that these documents, if put into practice, represent the essence of mankind’s hopes and good intentions; desirous that all Afro-American people and organizations should henceforth unite so that the welfare and well-being of our people will be assured; we are resolved to reinforce the common bond of purpose between our people by submerging all of our differences and establishing nonsectarian, constructive programs for human rights; we hereby present this charter:

I. The Establishment.

The Organization of Afro-American Unity shall include all people of African descent in the Western Hemisphere. … In essence what it is saying, instead of you and me running around here seeking allies in our struggle for freedom in the Irish neighborhood or the Jewish neighborhood or the Italian neighborhood, we need to seek some allies among people who look something like we do. And once we get their allies. It’s time now for you and me to stop running away from the wolf right into the arms of the fox, looking for some kind of help. That’s a drag.

II. Self-Defense.

Since self-preservation is the first law of nature, we assert the Afro-American’s right to self-defense.

The Constitution of the United States of America clearly affirms the right of every American citizen to bear arms. And as Americans, we will not give up a single right guaranteed under the Constitution. The history of unpunished violence against our people clearly indicates that we must be prepared to defend ourselves, or we will continue to be a defenseless people at the mercy of a ruthless and violent, racist mob.

AMY GOODMAN : Malcolm X, speaking in 1964. He was born 98 years ago today, on May 19th, 1925. Go to democracynow.org to see the full event with Dr. Angela Davis, Ben Crump, Malcolm X’s daughter Ilyasah Shabazz and many others at the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center, the site of the Audubon Ballroom in New York City, where Malcolm X was gunned down February 21st, 1965.

And that does it for our show. A very happy birthday to Simin Farkhondeh, Eli Putnam and Tey-Marie Astudillo! I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks for joining us.

Malcolm X Assassination: Former Security Guards Reveal New Details Pointing to FBI , NYPD Conspiracy

Daily News Digest

Speaking events, monday, 3:45 pm, recent news.

Headlines for April 12

• Gazan Children Play Among Ruins as Israeli Bombs Rain Down on Eid
• Samantha Power, Top USAID Official, Admits Northern Gaza Is Experiencing Famine
• U.S. Sends Top General to Israel Amid Reports of Iranian Retaliation for Israel’s Damascus Attack
• Morocco Sentences Activist to 5 Years for Criticizing Normalization Deal with Israel
• Mexico Brings Grievances Against Ecuador to ICJ Amid Mounting Diplomatic Row
• Ukraine Passes Contested Draft Bill with No Limits on Wartime Military Service
• Poland Begins Debate on Rolling Back Abortion Ban Under New Liberal Leader
• Biden Cancels Another $7.4 Billion in Student Debt
• Biden Admin Closes “Gun Show Loophole”
• Far-Right Flank of House Block Reauthorization of Controversial Section 702 of FISA
• “Goon Squad” Convicts Get State Sentences of 15-45 Years for Torturing Black Men
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• 10 Years After Chibok Abduction, Leaders No Longer Fighting for Survivors and Remaining Captives

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Speech on Racism [1,2,3,4,5 Minutes]

3 minutes speech on racism.

Dear teachers and students!

Greetings to all. and thank you to all of you to give me chance to give a speech.

I want to discuss racism, a significant subject that has an impact on all of us. Racism is a form of prejudice and discrimination that is predicated on the idea that one race is superior to another. It may manifest in a variety of ways, including as prejudice, discrimination, and violence.

In our world, racism has a long and traumatic history. People have been wrongfully treated and subjected to discrimination for ages because to the colour of their skin. It is a pervasive issue that has harmed and inflicted enormous pain on countless people and communities.

But despite the advancements we have achieved recently, racism is still a major issue in our culture. It shows up in a variety of places, including as the workplace, the criminal justice system, and our regular encounters.

To end racism and build a society that values justice and equality, we must all work together. This entails actively striving to foster understanding and respect between individuals of all races as well as speaking out against racism whenever we see it.

Regardless of colour, we have the ability to build a world where everyone is treated with respect and decency. Let’s work together to eliminate racism in the world by becoming a part of the solution.

I’m grateful.

5 Minutes Speech on Racism

Racism is a terrible and deeply ingrained issue that has afflicted humanity for far too long. It is the idea that one race is superior to another, and it has been used throughout history to excuse innumerable crimes against humanity and injustices.

Fundamentally, racism is a type of discrimination that is founded on the idea that some traits, like skin colour, are signs of intrinsic superiority or inferiority. It is an ideology that has been used to legitimise the exploitation of whole populations as well as their enslavement.

Racism is still a pervasive and deeply ingrained problem in many societies around the world, despite the recent advancements. It takes many different forms, including as racial profiling, hate crimes, and discrimination in the workplace, in the classroom, and in housing.

Racism has an effect that goes well beyond the people it specifically targets. Our ideas of fairness and equality are undermined, tearing at the very foundation of our societies. Discrimination and inequality limit the chances and potential of entire communities, which has a significant economic cost.

Every single one of us must contribute to the fight against racism in all of its manifestations. This entails admitting the ways in which systematic racism may have benefited us and actively working to undermine these structures in order to build a society that is more just and equal. It entails sticking out for the rights and dignity of all people while denouncing intolerance and hatred.

Regardless of race or ethnicity, let’s all work to create a world where everyone is treated with respect and dignity. We can all benefit from a better future if we work together.

Examples of sentences that can be used in starting of this speech

Examples of sentences that can be used in closing of this speech, more speeches.

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Fred Hampton Speech Transcript on Revolution and Racism

Speech by Fred Hampton, Deputy Chairman of the State of Illinois Black Panther Party on revolution and racism.

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Fred Hampton: ( 00:59 ) Power anywhere where there’s people. Power anywhere where there’s people.

Fred Hampton: ( 01:07 ) A lot of people get the word revolution mixed up, and they think revolution is a bad word. Revolution is nothing but like having a sore on your body and then you put something on that sore to cure that infection. I’m telling you that we’re living in an infectious society right now. I’m telling you that we’re living in a sick society right now. I’m telling you that we’re living in a sick society and anybody that endorses integrating into a sick society before it’s cleaned up is a man who’s committing a crime against the people.

Fred Hampton: ( 01:39 ) If you walk past a hospital room and you see a sign that says contaminated, and then you try to lead people into that room, either those people are mighty dumb. You understand me? Because if they weren’t, they’d tell you that you were an unfair and unjust leader that does not have your follows interests in mind. What we’re simply saying is that the leaders have to become more responsible and accountable for their actions. I’m saying that any program that’s brought into our community should be analyzed by the people of that community. It should be analyzed. It should be analyzed to see that it meets the relevant needs of that community.

Fred Hampton: ( 02:13 ) I mean, honestly, people, we’ve got to face some facts, that the masses are poor. The masses belong to what you call the lower class. When I talk about the masses, I’m talking about the white masses. I’m talking about the black masses. I’m talking about the brown masses, and the yellow masses too. We’ve got to face the fact that some people say you fight fire best with fire. But we say you put out fires best with water. We say you don’t fight racism with racism. We’re going to fight racism with solidarity. We say you don’t fight capitalism with no black capitalism. You fight capitalism with socialism.

Fred Hampton: ( 02:55 ) We ain’t going to fight no reactionary pigs who run up and down the street being reactionary. We’re going to organize, dedicate ourselves to the revolutionary political power and teach ourselves the specific needs of resisting the structure of that power. Arm ourselves. All right, we have to arm ourselves and we’re going to fight reactionary pigs with the international proletarian revolution. Excuse me, let me say that one more time. I said we’re going to fight reactionary pigs with the international proletarian revolution, that’s what it’s got to be. The people have to have the power. The people belong with the power.

Fred Hampton: ( 03:30 ) A lot of people will tell you, “Well, the people ain’t got no theory.” They need some theory. They need some theory, even though they don’t have any practice. And the Black Panther Party tells you that if you listen to what the pig says, you’ll be walking outside when the sun is shining with an umbrella over your head. That’s right. And when it’s raining, you’ll be going outside, leaving an umbrella inside. Look, you got to get it together. That’s what I’m saying, niggers. That’s what they going to have you doing.

Fred Hampton: ( 03:57 ) Now, what do we do? We say that the Breakfast For Children program is a socialistic program. It teaches the people that basically by practice we thought up and let them practice that theory and inspect that theory. What’s more important? You learn something just like everybody else. Let me try to break that down for you.

Fred Hampton: ( 04:12 ) You see this brother here, right? He go to school eight years to be an auto mechanic and that teacher, who used to be an auto mechanic, tells him, “Well, nigger, you got to go on what we call on-the-job training.” And he says, “Damn, with all this theory I got, why do I need on-the-job training? What for?” He said, “On-the-job training, he works with me. I’ve been here 20 years and when I started working there was no auto mechanics. I ain’t got no theory. I just got a whole bunch of practice.”

Fred Hampton: ( 04:39 ) Well what happened? A car came in making a whole lot of funny noise and this brother here go get his book. He on page one, he didn’t even get to page 200 yet. I’m sitting there listening to the car and he says, “What you think it is?” I said, “I think it’s the carburetor.”

Fred Hampton: ( 04:52 ) He says, “Nah, I don’t see nowhere in this book it says the carburetor make that funny noise. How do you know it’s the carburetor?” I said, “Well, nigger, with all them degrees, as many as the thermometer, around 20 years ago, 19 to be exact, I was listening to that same kind of noise and what I did was I took apart the voltage regulator and it wasn’t that. Then I took apart the alternator and it wasn’t that. I took apart the generator brushes and it wasn’t that. I took apart the generator, and it wasn’t even that. I took apart the generator, and it wasn’t even that. After I took apart, all that, I finally got to the carburetor and when I got to the carburetor, I found out that that’s what it was. And I told myself, ‘Fool, next time you here that funny nose, you take apart the carburetor first.'”

Fred Hampton: ( 05:33 ) How did he learn? He learned through practice. I say, how did he learn? He learned through practice. Say it with me. How did he learn? He learned through practice.

Fred Hampton: ( 05:48 ) I don’t care how much theory you got, if you don’t got any practice applied to it, then that theory happens to be irrelevant, right? Any theory you get, you practice it. When you practice, you make some mistakes. When you make some mistakes, you correct that theory. And now what you got? You got a corrected theory that will be able to be applied and used in any situation. That’s what we’ve got to be able to do here.

Fred Hampton: ( 06:08 ) Every time I speak in church, I always try to say something nice about Martin Luther King. I got a lot of respect for Martin Luther King. I mean, I think he was one of the greatest orators that the country ever produced. I listen to anyone who speaks well because that’s what I just like to listen to. Martin Luther King said that it might look dark sometime, and it might look dark over here on the North Side, but we’re not afraid about being in the dark. He said that the arm of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards heaven.

Fred Hampton: ( 06:35 ) We got Huey P. Newton in jail and Eldridge Cleaver underground. We got Alprentice “Bunch” Carter has been murdered. Bobby Hutton and John Higgins been murdered. A lot of people think that the Black Panther Party in a sense has given up. But let us say this, that we’ve made the kind of commitment to the people that hardly no one else has ever made. We’ve decided that although some of us come from what some of you call “Petty bougie families,” though some of us could be called in a sense what you call them the mountaintop. We could be integrated into the society, working with people that we may have never had a chance to work with, maybe we could be on that same mountaintop, and maybe we wouldn’t have to be hiding when we go to places like this and we speak, maybe we wouldn’t have to worry about court cases or going to jail, being sick. When we say that even though all those luxuries exist on the mountaintop, we understand that you people and your problems are right here in the valley.

Fred Hampton: ( 07:31 ) We, the Black Panther Party because of our dedication and understanding went into the valley knowing that the people are here in the valley, knowing that our plight is the same plight as the people in the valley, knowing that our enemies on the mountain and our friends are in the valley. And even though it’s nice to be on the mountaintop, we’re going to go back to the valley because we understand that there’s work to be done in the valley. And when we get through with this work in the valley, we’re going to go to that mountaintop. We’re going to go to that mountaintop because there’s a motherfucker on that mountaintop that’s playing king. And he’s been bullshitting us. And we’ve got to go on that mountaintop, not for the purpose of living like he lives, living his lifestyle. That’s not it. We got to go up on that mountain to make that motherfucker understand that, goddammit, we are coming from the valley.

Fred Hampton: ( 08:14 ) Yo, rest in peace, Fred Hampton. He died at 21 years old in his sleep next to his woman.

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A (Personal) Written Speech on Racism & Anti-Blackness

Na’ilah Williams

Featured Artwork: Shirien Damra

Hi. I’m Na’ilah. A lot of y’all know me as Nailah — minus the Arabic pronunciation — because it’s easier for me to dumb my name down for everyone else’s benefit. My name is Arabic for achiever, I believe. I never felt like it was a name that fit me. A rose by any other name, yes? But today, my name holds weight. Achiever.

On Monday, my mother told me I’d been recommended to speak at a rally. I was hesitant. I don’t like public speaking. But one of my closest friends told me: “Just own it, they asked YOU, not the other way around, and since you know what you’re talking about it’ll be a breeze.”

I don’t think he factored in my anxiety, but this is important. And as my necklace states, actions speak louder than words. So please bear with me.

A week ago, when my stepdad found out what I would be speaking today, he told me to write a speech. Throughout the week, he insisted that I write something, but I didn’t.

I planned on speaking from my heart. But what are you supposed to say? Because the only thing my heart knows right now is grief and exhaustion.

So last night, hours after I was supposed to be asleep, I wrote something.

I grew up in Wichita. I lived in a bad neighborhood. But I went to school in College Hill, and most of my friends were white. It wasn’t until after I moved to Texas that I realized that I was the token Black friend. I didn’t act “Black”, so I was okay to go to everyone’s houses for sleepovers.

But where I lived in Dallas, the only token friend you could have was a white one, or a Muslim one, as I was. When I was in middle school, it had become clear that I was on this path. But in high school, there had been no reason to be on guard.

But… my sophomore year, last February, I moved here. I knew where I was going to live was a white neighborhood. My parents have lived here for years. But I was still scared that I would face racism at school, which I did.

My first teacher had found a way to incorporate a racist stereotype into a lesson on communism. I didn’t say anything, even though all I wanted to do was speak up. But I finished out the school year with no issue.

So here’s an origin story: last year, around Thanksgiving time, I went to the high school’s powderpuff game with my friends, where I met [my friend] Maliah. We all formed a group chat, and we often bonded over shared experiences of racism at school.

Up until recently, I had been guilty of the same things my white peers do — ignoring the issue. But it’s harder to ignore when you have to live it. Because the issue here is that everything we face as a Black community today is systemic and has been going on for a very long time.

With the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd still fresh in our minds, the Black Lives Matter conversation came back up. Along with it came the usual dismissal tactics: statistics and stereotypes.

So, let’s talk.

First, I want to say a couple things: blue lives don’t exist, black on black crime is just plain crime , and if this is conversation makes you at all uncomfortable, it’s having the desired effect.

LISTEN. REFLECT. APPLY. REPEAT.

So, here are the facts:

We have rights. We know our rights. But they come with a number of hoops we have to jump through. We have to work twice as hard just to get half as far.

I know a lot of you don’t notice it. But I do.

It’s evident in the way children like Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin have no justice.

It’s in the way police will rule a death a suicide when we know very well nobody could’ve done to themselves what happened to them.

We see it daily in the way Walmart locks up Black hair products, or the people at the mall tail Black customers, expecting us to steal something.

It’s in the way Black women are more likely to die when hospitalized because the system is designed to deny us healthcare.

It’s in the way your Blackness is seen a weapon, so that even a traffic stop can turn deadly.

It’s in the way Black representation is almost nonexistent and Black creatives are kept in the shadows — and the only time we see ourselves reflected on TV is as the sassy side character or the lost main character who might be involved in a gang.

It’s in the world watching as the Central Park Five had their youth snatched away for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And when you look deeper into the systems in place that put 5 kids even younger than me away, you’ll see it too.

It’s in the silence we hear when Black lives are lost, and that the black square and “we stand with Black Lives Matter” statement is a bandaid to cover the blind eye everyone turns when my community is hurting.

It’s in centuries of telling Black women that our features are ugly and making the beauty standard Angelina Jolie, completely leaving out women who look like Ari Lennox or Jackie Aina.

It’s in the internal battles Black people have often because of the way the world views us — don’t show your anger, shrink your personality, don’t wear a hoodie, straighten your hair, hate who you are.

It’s in the way history is taught at school (it’s whitewashed, if you didn’t know).

It’s in the way everyone loves Black culture and uses blackness as an aesthetic, yet still treats Black people like zoo animals or less than.

Y’all may not see it, but we do. It’s as if the whole world is watching — waiting for you to make a mistake, so they can use it against your whole race.

When that’s your life, protesting is one of the few things you have left.

Silence is complicity.

So my question is, knowing all of that, what are you gonna do about it?

she/her. black woman. writer. 🤎

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Guidance for Reporting and Writing About Racism

Reporting beats, or specialized subjects that a journalist will stick with day in and day out, become sections in the paper and separate pages on a website. Sports, travel and tech news are clearly delineated to the eye, but those divisions are often blurrier than they appear.

Julian Glover, adjunct faculty at the Newhouse School and Race & Culture reporter at ABC7 San Francisco, says it is difficult to fully untangle the implications and history of race from every other beat.

“We can really look at all of those different slices of life, those different sections in the newspaper, and then overlay this lens of race and culture and say, ‘What else is happening here?’” Glover said. “‘What might we be missing by just reporting on the initial headline of the story?’” 

For example, coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic is incomplete without addressing the disproportionately negative impact the pandemic has had on Black, Hispanic and Native Americans .

It is why every reporter, regardless of background or beat, should be able to report and write about racism. 

Hub Brown, a former associate dean at the Newhouse School who worked on efforts to enhance diversity in the school’s faculty, staff and student body, says that a journalist’s first obligation is to the truth, not a section of the paper.

“When a journalist ignores the racial implications of something, say, the effect of systemic bias on a particular issue… you basically ignore the kinds of things that are pressures that prevent people from maybe achieving those sorts of things,” Brown said. “Then, you’re not being truthful.”

But the likelihood that newsrooms will prioritize these stories is often contingent on the diversity of existing staff—and in U.S. newsrooms, that staff is largely white and male.

Racial and ethnic minorities are about 40 percent of the U.S. population , according to the Census Bureau. However, they comprise less than a quarter of newsroom staff, according to the 2019 ASNE Newsroom Diversity Survey .

22% of salaried employees in newsrooms were people of color

19% of newsroom managers were people of color

26% of news organizations have a non-white person in one of the top three newsroom leadership roles

Data is from the 2019 ASNE Newsroom Diversity Survey. The ASNE survey relies on newsrooms to report their staffing statistics by the end of the year and had a 22.8% participation rate in 2019.

The gap between readers and reporters could widen, as the nation diversifies faster and is projected to be minority white and majority BIPOC by 2045 , per Census projections. And newsrooms are more than two decades past the proposed deadline for demographic parity by 2000, made by the American Society of News Editors in 1978 .

ProPublica reporter Topher Sanders explained how the whiteness of news organizations can affect coverage and communities in a 2020 conversation with the Knight Foundation. He proposed this question: “When those [predominantly white teams] are your gold-standard reporting teams within an organization and they lack diversity, what types of projects will be pursued?” 

“It’s a no-brainer that when you have diverse thoughts and perspectives, it shows up in the work, and it starts to show up in the community,” Sanders said. “Lots of times, the work generated from investigative reporting has real impact.”

Newsrooms, reporters and their leaders should consider diversity at all levels, including how they hire talent, make assignments, and write stories.

Five Considerations When Reporting and Writing About Race and Racism

Conversations with professors Glover and Brown provided some guidance for writers encountering common questions when reporting and writing about race—from seemingly small decisions around word choice to more conceptual questions regarding how we perceive others.

These considerations are not exhaustive. They should be used in tandem with other resources such as experts, organizations working toward newsroom diversity and anti-racism leaders.

Mitigating Personal Bias

As Brown describes it, writers learn to write from their own perspective. An unintentional consequence is that the perspective of those who matter to the story can be lost along the way.

Those who experience privilege due to their race, gender or class cannot live the experiences of those without privilege. Those blind spots, biases and the lens through which a storyteller sees the world matter: These are what frame the subject and readers’ perceptions of it.

Danielle K. Kilgo’s research on protest coverage highlights how instances of reporting bias can snowball into larger differences in how certain communities are portrayed. Kilgo’s data shows that coverage of the Women’s March and anti-Trump protests were more likely to legitimize protests and explore their grievances.

In contrast, protests against anti-Black racism and in support of Indigenous people’s rights were more likely to be described as threatening and violent. One framework centers the experiences of those protesting, the other pushes those experiences to the periphery of the story.

• Better understand your own implicit biases. Writers can begin with tactics to identify and reduce your implicit biases from the American Academy of Family Physicians , including individualization and mindfulness. Additionally, Project Implicit offers an Implicit Association Test to educate the public about biases and help people begin to recognize their own perceptions.
• Do your homework. “Do some deep research on the topic that you’re reporting on,” Glover said. “Unlearn the incorrect or improper history that you knew, or learn the full history that really connects the dots in a throughline that explains what a particular community might be going through.”

Identifying the Story

Coming up with a new story, especially under the pressure of a day turn, can be stressful. But those pressures should not lead to shortcuts. 

“My biggest fear is to go to someone in a particular group with an idea of what I think is the most important thing to this group and essentially telling them that this is the story,” Glover said. Instead, reporters hope to build relationships with people so they can learn what the real story is and what the community wants amplified.

• Solicit ideas from the community and build a rapport with local citizens. Glover promotes his social channels and email as a way for people to reach out to him with stories and has found that people are responsive.

The feedback loop continues after a story, too. Viewers have the opportunity to reach back out with follow-up tips or comments.

• Do not just highlight trauma within a community—uplift culture, different identities and intersectionality. Glover tries to offer solutions when he can. For example, a story on high suspension rates among Black, Latina and Indigenous young women also included information about the latest interventions to help reduce recidivism.

“I think in many communities folks are tired of hearing the statistics. They’re tired of hearing how bad it is because in many cases they know how bad it is,” he said. “What can we do about it? And how might the viewers who are watching us every night … get into and be a part of those solutions?”

Building Trust in the Community

Building a feedback loop requires participation, enthusiasm and trust between community members and yourself. 

However, Americans’ trust in the media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly is at the second-lowest level since Gallup started measuring in 1972. About 36 percent of people said they have “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of trust in the media, according to Gallup’s October 2021 data.

Researchers, such as Online News Association President Mandy Jenkins, are trying to investigate where distrust in reporters is coming from. Jenkins hypothesized to The Pulitzer Prizes that it is not always partisan-driven—there are many people who see journalists come from outside the community, report a national story and then leave town.

• Make sure people are comfortable with your process and have clear expectations. “[That way] they don’t open up to you, they don’t share their space, their knowledge, their perspective and then see it boiled down to a five-second sound bite that doesn’t articulate what they were trying to convey with you,” Glover explained.
• Let audiences hear directly from the source. Although reporters are the experts at writing for the air or a newspaper, they are not the experts on someone’s lived experiences. “It’s oftentimes just so powerful to step back, listen and let people speak for themselves,” Glover said.

Writing in Active vs. Passive Voice

Active voice uses fewer words, is more direct and is easier to understand. It also requires the writer to identify an actor, which in cases of violence and racism can feel nerve-wracking.

A New York Times tweet from May 2020 describes three violent acts during Black Lives Matter protests. It also highlights the difference between passive and active voice. One part of the tweet reads:

Passive Voice

A photographer was shot in the eye.

In this sentence, the actor is hidden. Rubber bullets cannot shoot themselves, but writers do not need to name the perpetrator with passive voice.

Active Voice

Protesters struck a journalist with his own microphone.

The active voice here gives the reader a clear description of the actor and the action.

“Passive writing obscures blame, obscures responsibility. It’s why bureaucrats use it all the time,” Brown said. “‘Mistakes were made and others will be blamed.’ In order to refrain from doing that, you absolutely have to step up and say, ‘Yeah, this person did that thing.’”

Brown says that transitioning a sentence in these cases requires courage and exactness. You have to understand what you are saying and put in more work to be sure of it.

For example, in the sentence:

Protesters were hit by rubber bullets.

To publish this, the reporter only needs to confirm what happened but not how it happened.

To make the sentence active, additional reporting needs to identify actors, such as who pulled the trigger:

Police shot protesters with rubber bullets.

Brown recommends reporters have a clear understanding of which words convict and which words describe an event.

“I think that that’s one of the reasons why there is fear, because they think, ‘I’m trying him in a court of law.’ No, no, you’re actually talking about objective reality,” he said.

“It is not a matter of law or a matter of debate that a police officer killed George Floyd, that’s not up for debate,” Brown said. “What is up for debate is whether or not he did it in a premeditated fashion, whether or not he was reckless with disregard for his safety.”

Using the Word “Racist”

In January 2019, NBC issued guidance to their staff telling them not to refer to former Rep. Steve King’s comments about white supremacy as “racist.” Shortly after the email leaked, NBC revised the comment, but the incident highlights the fear around using the word.

Instead, headlines often use terms such as “racially motivated, “racially tinged” and “racially charged.”

In an episode of Code Switch , NPR’s Gene Demby said that it is difficult for journalists to describe a person or action as “racist” under the framework with which so many view racism. “If you primarily understand racism as a kind of illness of the soul—a moral failing—[then] you can’t use that term unless you can sort of characterize what’s happening in people’s hearts,” Demby explained. “We as journalists can’t really do that. But that’s not the only way to understand something as racist, right?”

• Avoid shorthand like “racially charged” and “racially motivated” in place of a description of an actual act.   Lawrence B. Glickman wrote that these euphemisms first appeared in the 1950s and ‘60s —”racially tinged” is used to describe the explosions at a recently desegregated campus. Glickman’s data shows that these vague phrases became more frequent in the 1990s and have consistently been used in the last decade. He said that terms like this suggest that race is neutral and “make it difficult to speak accurately of racial oppression.”
• Confirm the act meets the definition of “racism,” without characterizing the actor’s motivation, and be as specific as possible, as recommended by The Associated Press. They also recommend avoiding describing an individual as “racist”—words like “xenophobic,” “bigoted” or “biased” could be more accurate alternatives.

Additional Reading and Resources

Below are some additional tools, style guides and articles to help writers further engage with the content:

• Race-Related Coverage, AP Style Guide : guidance from the Associated Press on when to mention a subject’s race, word choice for terms like “racist” and “racism,” and more.
• Conscious Style Guide : collection of style guides focusing on race, disability, age and more.
• NABJ Style Guide : guidance from the National Association of Black Journalists on racial identifiers and other terms that are of specific relevance to their community.
• Best Practices for Journalists Reporting on Police Killings of Black and Brown People, NABJ : includes discussions from image sourcing to highlighting the humanity of Black victims of police violence.
• “Decades of Failure,” Columbia Journalism Review : newsroom-specific diversity data that includes statistics on leadership.
• “How Diverse Are US Newsrooms?,” American Society of News Editors : interactive website with ASNE survey data. Visualizations show gender and race breakdowns against parity with each newsroom’s respective market.

Citation for this content: Communications@Syracuse, Syracuse University’s online master’s in communications .

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10 of the Best Poems about Race and Racism

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

Poetry can be used to address and explore a range of pressing social issues, and racial prejudice and racial identity are among these topics which poets have written about powerfully, from a range of perspectives.

Whether it’s African-American poets writing at the time of the Civil Rights movement in the US, or British Asian poets writing about dual identity, the following poets have articulated important aspects of ‘the race debate’ (or, perhaps, debates). As well as getting us to think, they have made us feel .

Let’s take a look at what they say.

1. William Blake, ‘ The Little Black Boy ’.

My mother bore me in the southern wild, And I am black, but O! my soul is white; White as an angel is the English child: But I am black as if bereav’d of light.

Blake (1757-1827) often wrote about injustice and prejudice, and this is one of his most powerful poems addressing the issue of racial prejudice (and slavery, which was still legal in the British Empire at the time).

The poem is spoken by the African boy who acknowledges that his skin is black whereas a white English child’s is white. However, he points out that his soul is white too: i.e., as spotless and pure as a white boy’s.

2. Langston Hughes, ‘ I, Too ’.

The finest poet of the Harlem Renaissance, Hughes (1902-67) often writes about the lives of African Americans living in America, especially in New York, in the early twentieth century.

In this poem from 1926, and with an allusive nod to Walt Whitman’s poem ‘I Hear America Singing’, Hughes – describing himself as the ‘darker brother’ – highlights the plight of black Americans at the time, having to eat separately from everyone else in the kitchen when guests arrive, but determined to strive and succeed in the ‘Land of the Free’.

3. Dudley Randall, ‘ Ballad of Birmingham ’.

Randall (1914-2000) is as well-known for publishing some of the greatest poets of the twentieth century as he is for writing poetry himself.

‘Ballad of Birmingham’ is a powerful poem about the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, written that year and published in 1965. Taking the form of a dialogue between a young child and her mother, the poem highlights the racial prejudice – and the real threats to their lives – that African Americans faced during Civil Rights-era America.

The mother sends her daughter to church, thinking she will be safe from harm and trouble there; tragically, the church becomes another target of white nationalist hate.

4. Gwendolyn Brooks, RIOT .

Brooks (1917-2000) was an important American poet whose work often engaged with the lives of Black Americans.

This long poem was written in the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King (who provides the poem with its epigraph) in 1968, and the social unrest that followed. Brooks’s poem suggests that social progress can be effected not just by protest or action but by thinking, reading, and reflecting.

5. Audre Lorde, ‘ Power ’.

This is a harrowing but powerful poem about power: both the power of the state (specifically, the case of a police officer shooting dead a black child in the United States) and the power of words.

Lorde, one of the finest African-American poets of the twentieth century, takes in the difference between poetry and rhetoric as she responds to the upsetting realities of life in contemporary America, including racial prejudice.

6. Alice Walker, ‘ Remember Me? ’

Although she is probably best-known for her novel The Color Purple , Alice Walker (born 1944) is also a poet, who writes powerfully in this poem about being the woman with ‘the dark skin’. The poem addresses the hardship faced by many black women in the US but also reiterates a message of hope, ending with the positive words, ‘Let us begin’.

7. Chrystos, ‘ Into the Racism Workshop ’.

Chrystos is a Menominee writer and activist whose work often focuses on indigenous Americans’ civil rights, as well as feminism.

This poem from the 1990s details the speaker’s involvement in a ‘racism workshop’, designed to highlight systemic prejudice against people of colour (in the United States specifically, here), and how a world-weariness attends such attempts to educate white Americans about the experiences of black people – although the end of the poem suggests that Chrystos, or at least the speaker of her poem, is still committed to the task of changing people’s minds and challenging their attitudes.

8. Patience Agbabi, ‘ Skins ’.

Agbabi (born 1965) is a British poet who often addresses important social themes, including race and racial identity. ‘Skins’ is a fine example of her engagement with this topic.

Although Agbabi’s work lends itself to spoken-word performances, this does not mean she doesn’t also do fascinating things with the poem on the page. ‘Skins’ is a sestina , moving away from the unspoken tradition of writing such a poem in iambic pentameter and instead using a mixture of longer and shorter lines.

The poem is also a variation on the dramatic monologue, spoken by a young man of mixed race who is talking to a woman he finds attractive.

9. Daljit Nagra, ‘ Booking Khan Singh Kumar ’.

The British poet Daljit Nagra (born 1966) was the first poet to win the Forward Prize for both his first collection of poetry, published by Faber in 2007, and for its title poem, ‘Look, We Have Coming to Dover!’

Some of his poems use Punjabi-inflected English, and allude to earlier poets such as D. H. Lawrence, W. H. Auden, and Rudyard Kipling. With its reference to ‘Punglish’, this poem explores Nagra’s Englishness and his Punjabi ancestry, and how this duality has shaped him as a poet. One of the best contemporary British poems about racial identity.

10. Warsan Shire, ‘ Home ’.

We bring this pick of classic poems about race and racism up to the present (or as good as) with this poem from the contemporary British poet Warsan Shire, who was born in Kenya, to Somali parents, in 1988.

In ‘Home’, Shire writes an impassioned poem about the reasons why refugees are forced to leave their homes in search of new ones. A powerful note on which to end this selection of great poems about the plight of refugees – and all too relevant in our own times.

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Written contribution to the thematic discussion on racist hate speech and freedom of opinion and expression organized by the United Nations Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Amnesty International takes the view that robust protections of freedom of expression also protect the right to be free from racial discrimination. The organization urges the Committee to clarify the requirements on States under Article 4(a) taking due regard of freedom of expression, including possible conflicts with this right, and by urging a holistic approach to preventing racial discrimination that avoids over-reliance on legal prohibition and sanction and focuses on positive measures, especially education, to combat racial intolerance and discrimination.

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Biden tells racial justice meeting, ‘We’ve kept our promises,’ as he looks to energize Black voters

President Joe Biden speaks to the National Action Network Convention remotely from the South Court Auditorium of the White House, Friday, April 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Joe Biden prepares to speak to the National Action Network Convention remotely from the South Court Auditorium of the White House, Friday, April 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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NEW YORK (AP) — President Joe Biden virtually addressed the Rev. Al Sharpton’s racial justice conference on Friday, telling a sympathetic crowd “we’ve kept our promises” as he ramps up efforts to energize Black voters who will be vital to his reelection bid this fall.

Addressing several hundred attendees at the annual National Action Network Convention in New York, Biden ticked through a long list of what he said were some of his administration’s key accomplishments for Black Americans. He detailed providing federal public works funding to reconnect city neighborhoods that were divided decades ago when highways were built , and also investing billions in historically Black colleges and universities.

“Together, we’ve kept our promises to make some of the most significant investments in the Black American community ever,” Biden said. He also noted his pardoning thousands of inmates convicted on federal marijuana charges , combating racial discrimination in the real estate market and canceling student debts for millions of Americans.

He called that “transformational change” but said, “We know there’s much more work to do.” He said he still hoped to sign major legislation expanding voting rights and the George Floyd Act , a police reform package named for a Black man whose murder by Minneapolis police in 2020 sparked widespread racial justice protests and calls for federal legislation.

Biden is facing a November rematch with Republican former President Donald Trump , who has tried to step up his own a ppeal to Black voters .

Trump has suggested that his four criminal indictments have boosted his standing with members of the key voting bloc because they see him as a victim of discrimination — comparing his legal jeopardy to the historic legacy of anti-Black prejudice in the U.S. legal system. The former president has also repeatedly compared himself to anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela , arguing that federal and state prosecutors have targeted him and his businesses for political reasons.

Although Biden historically enjoys high support and approval from Black Democrats, 45% of Black Americans said they disapprove of the way Biden is handling his job as president in March, according to polling by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research . Just over half said they approve.

Biden didn’t mention Trump by name in his speech Friday, but referred to opposition by top Republicans to abortion rights and expanded access to the ballot box in stressing, “There are real threats we face.”

“There are more extreme voices out there who simply don’t want to see people of color in the future of our country,” the president said.

Terrence Floyd, George Floyd’s brother, said it meant a lot to hear Biden pledge to keep pursuing reforms in his sibling’s name.

“For him to still be adamant on passing that bill, I appreciate it,” he said. “He’s got the Floyd family behind him.”

The act passed the then-Democrat-controlled House in 2021, but stalled in a Senate where Republicans held a majority.

Others in the crowd were equally enthusiastic. About half the audience stood and applauded as the president approached the podium at a White House auditorium that was seen on a livestream.

Biden’s virtual speech capped a week of appearances from administration officials and other prominent local and national leaders. Vice President Kamala Harris addressed the convention in person last year.

Elaine Duval, of New York City, said she found the president to be genuine in his appeals to Black voters and that she doesn’t “think that he has gotten the praise and merit that he deserves.” But she also suggested that Biden missed an opportunity to address the suffering of Palestinians amid Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza strip.

“Oppression of any people anywhere is oppression of humanity,” Duval said. “And Black people, the Black race, we have been used to oppression and subjugation. I wish he had mentioned that because they are our kinfolk. He should bring the power of the presidency to bear upon that.”

As he travels the country campaigning for reelection, Biden has frequently faced protesters decrying his administration’s handling of the war in Gaza.

Sharpton, who has regularly convened a small group of civil rights leaders at the White House on issues affecting Black Americans, introduced Biden by recounting his years of engagement with the National Action Network.

“I give that background so people won’t think he’s just doing his viral speech to get votes,” Sharpton said.

He also took a swipe at Trump, saying, “There are those that want our voters, that want to take us for granted and show us some gold sneakers and other foolishness.”

“We want to know about concrete things,” Sharpton said.

Franklin Malone, a member of NAN’s Washington chapter, said he would have liked to hear Biden speak more about addressing incarceration rates in the Black community, beyond marijuana offenders.

“We can press for what we need. But at least he’s on the right track,” Malone said. “Sometimes a half a chicken is better than no chicken at all.”

Malone said Biden didn’t sound like a politician taking the Black vote for granted, as Trump has suggested top Democrats do.

“The president is in a position to empower us to empower him,” Malone said. “He needs our vote. We need him.”

__ Weissert reported from Washington.

1 Minute Speech on Racism In English

A very good morning to one and all present here. Today, I will be giving a short speech on the topic of racism.

Google defines the term ‘racism’ to be “prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.” It also states that racism involves “the belief that different races possess distinct characteristics, abilities, or qualities, especially so as to distinguish them as inferior or superior to one another.”

Simply put, racism is to discriminate and oppress a person on the basis of their race. Although racism is predominantly viewed in the light of the White community establishing their superiority over the Black community, this behaviour of theirs also extends to other races and ethnicities such as Asian. 

Racism ought to be eradicated. Human beings as a whole need to come to the understanding that all of us are equal. 

Thank you. 

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GiveMeSport

Gary neville's passionate speech about racism in football ruined by sky sports' interjection.

Gary Neville delivered a passionate speech about the problem with racism in football and England

Chelsea ’s victory over Tottenham Hotspur was marred by an incident of racist abuse in the second half.

Play was stopped after an object was thrown on to the pitch and Chelsea’s Antonio Rudiger claimed he heard monkey noises from the crowd.

An announcement inside Tottenham’s stadium warned that “racist behaviour is interfering with the game” and the message was heard two more times before full-time.

It’s the latest in a string of racist incidents to affect football matches in England.

Racism has been rife from the Premier League down to non-league in 2019 and it’s a scary situation that English football is facing.

• Rudiger subjected to racist abuse
• Neville accuses Boris Johnson of fuelling racism
• Serie A's disgraceful 'anti-racism' campaign

The problem was discussed on Sky Sports, with pundit Gary Neville calling for the Premier League to stop hiding behind the FA on the issue.

Neville recently called out UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson for enabling racism in England and he reiterated that point once again on Sunday.

"We have a racism problem in the Premier League, in England, and the Premier League have got to stand up," Neville said.

"They hide behind the FA, the Premier League, on this issue, they hide behind the FA, in my opinion. They push disciplinary issues to the FA. 

"Yes, we heard the announcements at the end. But I said it a couple of weeks ago, we’ve just had a General Election in this country, both main parties and the leaders of both main parties [have been] accused constantly over the last month of fuelling racism and accepting racism in their parties.

"If it’s accepted in the highest office in the country, we’re not talking at a micro-level, we’re talking about it at the absolute highest office in the country.

"And it’s the same here today, we’ve seen an incident, to be fair which we could say is down to one individual person, but it’s a far bigger problem than that.

"I think there has to be something that happens quickly. I think we maybe have to empower the players to walk off the pitch and stop the entertainment while it’s happening. That’s the only way I can see it happen.

"Ultimately, I didn’t walk off the pitch when [fellow pundit] Ashley [Cole] was abused 15 years ago and you might argue that it’s now okay for me to sit here in my ivory tower of the commentary box and suggest players should walk off the pitch.

"But I think I would be ashamed of not doing it 15 years ago and absolutely proud of players now to empower them to think, do something about it, take it into your own hands.

"The PFA have to act because the PFA are there to protect players in this country and players in this country are receiving abuse while playing football and doing their jobs and that is unacceptable.

"The PFA have to take it into their own hands with the Premier League and FA and stop pointing the finger towards the Bulgarian FA and Spanish FA because we have to deal with our own ship here."

However, Neville's speech was ruined somewhat by the interjection of presenter David Jones.

"I am compelled to say the opinions of you, Gary Neville, are not those of Sky Sports, that is my duty," Jones said.

When Neville asked Jones if he didn't agree with his comments, the presenter replied: "Whether I do or I don’t is completely irrelevant, I’m here to try and hold a balanced debate."

Jones' interjection upset many on Twitter who felt it diluted a powerful moment.

GIVEMESPORT’s Scott Wilson says:

England can no longer ignore the fact that it has a racism problem.

Whether Neville is right when he says the country’s political leaders have paved the way for it or not, football fans are now feeling emboldened to hurl racist abuse at players.

One possible way to help would be with a stronger announcement in the stadium than: “Racist behaviour is interfering with the game”.

How about telling fans that anyone found guilty of racism will be banned from football for life and prosecuted, and with a warning that the match will be abandoned if the abuse continues?

The message needs to be stronger.

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The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500

Remarks by President   Biden to the National Action Network   Convention

South Court Auditorium Eisenhower Executive Office Building

2:52 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Rev.  Thanks for that introduction.  Look, we’ve known each other for a long time.  I’m grateful not only for your leadership and partnership but, quite frankly, more importantly for your friendship. 

And thanks to all of you, members of our nation’s most important civil rights organization. 

You know, for more than 30 years, the National Action Network has been on the frontlines in the work to redeem the soul of America.  We’ve been on the same page, and the work is as important as it’s ever been.    

You know, during your convention, you heard from members of the most diverse administration in history — our administration. 

Starting with our Vice President, Kamala Harris, who is doing an incredible job, in my view. 

And so is Steve Benjamin, who is with us — he is with you guys tonight right now. 

Together, we’ve kept our promises to make some of the most significant investments in the Black American community ever. 

Promise kept to get through the pandemic and to make sure the Black community was not left behind and everyone was taken care of; put checks in pockets to cut Black child poverty in half.

A promise kept to rebuild all of America, reconnecting Black communities that had been cut in half by interstate highway systems with jobs and opportunities as well, to ensure that every community has access to clean water and high-speed Internet.

A promise kept to protect and expand Obamacare, saving Black families $800 a year on their premiums.

A promise kept to beat Big Pharma by giving Medicare the power to negotiate lower prescription drug prices, literally saving countless lives in underserved communities.

For example, members of the Black community who need insulin now are only — for — because of their diabetes, now only have to pay $35 a month for insulin instead of $400 a month.

And there’s much more to come, by the way.

A promise kept to invest an historic $7 billion in HBCUs, to relieve student debt for more than 4 thous- — 4 million people so far, including a significant number of Black borrowers, including, just today, I announced another 277,000 Americans — a significant number of Black borrowers — are also having their debt forgiven.

A promise kept to advance justice: the first Black woman on the Supreme Court and more Black women confirmed for the federal circuit court of appeals than all previous presidents combined — every single one; the most important executive order on police reform to ban chokeholds, greatly restrict no-knock warrants, advance effective and accountable community policing.  

A promise kept to sign the most significant gun safety law in decades.  The first law making lynching a federal hate crime.  Keeping my promise that no one should be in federal prison for merely possessing marijuana. 

A promise kept to advance environ- — environmental justice and to make the most significant investments in climate ever in all of our history.  That’s delivering clean energy and jobs all across America. 

The results are real.  We’ve reduced Black unemployment rate to its record low.  More Black Americans have health insurance than ever before.  More Black businesses are starting up than we’ve seen in the last 25 years. 

In fact, despite attacks on our support for brown and Black small businesses, we’re investing in them as key ways to build generational wealth in communities. 

Today, I’m proud to announce that last year we awarded $76 billion in federal contracts to small, disadvantaged businesses to level the playing field and close the racial wealth gap. 

I also want to thank my dear friend, HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge, for an amazing career in public service, for leading the charge in making housing more affordable, for proposing a $10,000 tax first-time home- — $10,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers to building more rental unit — more rental units to bring rents down than ever before. 

We’ve launched a major effort to root out bias in home appraisal process so homes in Black communities are no longer undervalued compared to the same home in a white community.  Thus far, we’ve eliminated that gap by 40 percent, and we’re going to continue until it’s even. 

Put it all together, Black wealth is up 60 percent — up 60 percent, and the racial wealth gap has closed the most in 20 years.  You know, I would argue this is transformational change.  But we know there’s much more work to do.  There are real threats we face.

There are more extreme voices out there who simply don’t want to see people of color in the future of our country.  They want to turn back the clock — voter suppression; election subversion; ripping away reproductive freedom; getting affirmative action — gutting it and attacking diversity across American life; banning books — this is 2024 — banning books, attempting to erase history; embracing political violence, like what happened on January the 6th. 

These extremists are determined to erase the progress we’ve made.  But together, we are determined to make history, not erase it — make history, not erase it.

Let me close with this, Rev.  You know, we face a moment of choosing at a time when our very democracy is at stake.  And that’s not an exaggeration.  Our democracy is at stake.

One vision is propelled by anger, hate, revenge, and retribution. 

The other vision — our vision, your vision — of perseverance, progress, hope and optimism, and everything the National Action Network stands for and embodies.

Here’s the future we can build together.  I see an America where we defend democracy, we don’t diminish it.

I see an America where, with your help, I sign the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act into law, where I sign the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act into law, where we make Roe v. Wade the law of the land again.  And we can do that.

I see a future where we give hate no safe harbor and call out the poison of white supremacy.

I see an America where the economy grows from the middle out and the bottom up, not the top down, and where the wealthy finally begin to pay their fair share of taxes, where working people finally have a fair shot, with childcare, eldercare, paid leave.  We’re — we’re one of the only nations in the world that doesn’t have paid leave. 

I see a future where we save the planet from the climate crisis and our country from gun violence. 

You know, my administration just yesterday expanded ba- — two days ago expanded background checks.  But that’s not enough.  We’ll ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.  Be- — we did it once; we’ve got to do it again.  We must get it done.

And, folks, I know we can do this.  I’ve never been more optimistic about our future.

You know, we just have to remember who we are.  We’re the United States of America.  We’ve come out of every crisis stronger than we’ve gone into it.  And there’s nothing — nothing beyond our capacity when we act together.

So, let’s keep acting together.  I’m looking to you for help.  I’m looking to you for your leadership, and I hope you look to me for the same.

God bless you all.  And may God protect our troops.

Thank you very much.  (Applause.)

Q    Mr. President, what’s your message to Iran?

Q    How imminent is an Iranian attack on Israel?

THE PRESIDENT:  I don’t want to say.

Q    How imminent do you think an attack on Israel is from Iran, Mr. President?

THE PRESIDENT:  I don’t want to get into secure information, but my expectation is sooner than later.

Thank you. 

(Cross-talk.)

Q    Mr. President, what is your message to Iran right now?

Q    Mr. President, what is your message to Iran in this moment?

THE PRESIDENT:  “Don’t.”

Q    Or else what?

Q    Are American personnel and assets at risk, Mr. President?

Q    Mr. President, are American troops at risk as well?

THE PRESIDENT:  We are devoted to the defense of Israel.  We will support Israel.  We will defend — help defend Israel.  And Iran will not succeed.

Thank you very much.

3:01 P.M. EDT

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Sami Michael, Iraqi-Israeli author who bridged divides, dies at 97

Mr. michael’s novels often borrowed from his own journey from a jewish enclave in baghdad to israel’s arab jewish community.

Sami Michael, a writer whose early life in a Jewish enclave in Baghdad and immigrant journey to Israel inspired novels that explored overlays of culture and identity, including the struggles and suspicions faced by Arab Jews in Israel, died April 1 at his home in Israel’s Mediterranean port of Haifa. He was 97.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, a watchdog group where he was president, announced the death but did not provide a cause. Writers, activists and political leaders across Israel in shared tribute amid the divisions and turmoil of the Gaza war .

Writing in his adopted language of Hebrew, Mr. Michael (pronounced me-KA-ale) became a literary voice of the “other” in the Middle East — whether within the ancient Jewish communities in Muslim nations or among the Jewish émigrés to Israel from nations such as Iraq, Yemen and elsewhere.

The stories created by Mr. Michael over more than a dozen books were fictional, but they illuminated familiar realities. His Arab Jewish characters confront discrimination and indignities big and small. They also grapple with the weight of history and politics, including Israel’s past wars against Arab states and the occupation of Palestinian territories for generations.

For many non-Arab readers, Mr. Michael’s novels offered a starkly different version of the Israeli experience, as seen through Arab Jewish immigrants known in Hebrew as Mizrahim, or Easterners.

Mr. Michael’s first novel in Hebrew, “All Men Are Equal — But Some Are More” in 1974, loosely borrows its title from George Orwell’s political allegory “Animal Farm” and chronicles members of a middle-class Jewish family from Baghdad as they seek their bearings in Israel in the 1950s and beyond.

The family arrived dressed in their “best garments, tailor-made of expensive English wool and pure silk,” Mr. Michael wrote in the book, whose title in English translation can be “Equal and More Equal.” They expected the same enthusiastic welcome given to immigrants of European heritage. Instead, the family was placed with other Arab Jewish newcomers in a squalid transit camp.

“[A] gray bunch of pasty-faced bureaucrats appeared … in five short minutes the new homeland turned my father from an energetic man in the prime of his life to an old broken abject fool,” he wrote.

Mr. Michael’s work became regarded as essential reading in understanding the tightly knit Arab-Jewish communities and placed him among some of the most celebrated Israeli writers, along with Amos Oz , A.B. Yehoshua and Meir Shalev . Israeli President Isaac Herzog called Mr. Michael a “giant among giants.”

“Sometimes I feel that there are two identities inside me,” Mr. Michael once said . “The one is of an Arab from Iraq, while the other one is of an Israeli Jew.”

Mr. Michael, then known as Kamal Salah, fled Baghdad in 1948 after the establishment of Israel, which was immediately locked in conflict with Arab states. Mr. Michael, who was also a Communist Party activist, said he feared arrest and possible execution in Iraq. He spent a year in Iran before leaving for Israel.

He settled in Haifa and wrote articles for Arabic-language editions of a Communist Party newspaper. He quit the party after Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in a 1956 speech acknowledged the brutal purges and repression of his predecessor, Joseph Stalin, but Mr. Michael remained active in left-wing politics. Meanwhile, he was hired as a hydrologist in the Israeli agriculture department; it was a position he held until 1974, and he put his writing on hold as he mastered Hebrew.

Nearly all his novels carry some autobiographical echoes. In “Refuge” (1977), set in the aftermath of Israel’s victory in the 1973 October War , the characters include a Jewish asylum seeker from Iraq who becomes demoralized by his second-class status in Israel.

“A Handful of Fog” (1979) follows the devastation of Iraq’s once-flourishing Jewish community, and “Victoria” (1995) is based on observations of his mother’s life in Baghdad’s Jewish quarter and the dominance of men over the community’s affairs. The book ends in Israel, where the Iraqi immigrant men have lost their power and the women more easily adjust.

His 2003 novel “A Trumpet in the Wadi” explores prejudice through a romance between a Christian Arab woman and a Russian Jewish immigrant in Israel. In a review of the novel, renowned Israeli writer David Grossman said Mr. Michael possessed a powerful ability to break down “us and them” stereotypes.

“My biological mother is Iraq, my adopted mother is Israel,” Mr. Michael said at a 2015 literary event at Northwestern University. “I belong to both sides.”

Politically, he found fault on many fronts. He decried anti-Israel rhetoric of Arab leaders. Yet he also was a longtime supporter of Palestinian statehood and was increasingly bitter over hard-line Israeli policies he asserted had eroded the nation’s soul.

“Racism is gradually becoming entrenched in Israeli society with the political strengthening of the religious right,” he said in a 2012 speech in Haifa. “Racism is directed at Jews from Arab and Islamic countries, immigrants from Ethiopia and Russia, Arab citizens of Israel, Palestinians in the occupied territories, refugees and working migrants, gays, and the list goes on.”

In September, a month before Hamas’s attack on Israel that began the war in Gaza, Mr. Michael stepped down after two decades as president of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. “He expressed his pain and rage toward the injustices in Israel, demanded where justice must be served and instilled in us a spirit of hope for change,” the organization said in a statement.

Kamal Salah was born in Baghdad on Aug. 15, 1926. His father was a merchant and trader; his mother was a homemaker. He changed his name to Sami Michael after arriving in Israel.

He said he became aware of the power of literature as a boy during the crushing heat of a Baghdad summer. He began reading Jack London books set in the Arctic. “As I read the book, I shivered from the cold. I said, ‘Ahh, this is a magic man.’ Something happened to me while reading his work,” he recalled . “I wanted to be a writer.”

In Baghdad, he attended Jewish schools and, as a teenager, joined the Communist Party that opposed Iraq’s increasingly nationalist government. In June 1941, Muslim mobs attacked Jewish areas of Baghdad, killing scores of people and burning homes and shops.

He came to Israel amid a wave of Arab Jewish immigrants who felt persecuted in their homelands. Mr. Michael said he chose to write in Hebrew out of a need to reach readers — even though it took him decades to feel comfortable with turning the language into prose.

“I didn’t have any lessons in the Hebrew language. It entered my body through my skin. I was caught by the musicality of the language. I created my own Hebrew,” he said . “I was 48 when I started writing in Hebrew, and I used every cell of my body to write to the Israeli reader.”

In addition to his novels, he wrote several nonfiction books, plays and children’s books, including “Storm Among the Palms” (1991), and received the 1992 Hans Christian Andersen Award for children’s literature. He translated into Hebrew the Cairo trilogy — “Palace Walk,” “Palace of Desire” and “Sugar Street” — of the Nobel laureate Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz .

Survivors include his wife, the former Rachel Yonah; two children from his first marriage to Malka Rivkin; and five grandchildren.

Mr. Michael, the former hydrologist, was fond of using water metaphors to describe his life and work.

“I am Iraqi and I am also Israeli. These two identities exist in me and I love them both because they are a part of me,” he once said in a roundtable discussion with other writers. “Both these rivers flow into my work.”