For the people of South Africa, for those he inspired around
the globe - Madiba’s passing is rightly a time of mourning, and a time to
celebrate his heroic life. But I believe it should also prompt in each of us a
time for self-reflection. With honesty, regardless of our station or
circumstance, we must ask: how well have I applied his lessons in my own life?
It is a question I ask myself - as a man and as a President.
We know that like South Africa, the United States had to overcome centuries of
racial subjugation. As was true here, it took the sacrifice of countless people
- known and unknown - to see the dawn of a new day.
Michelle and I are the
beneficiaries of that struggle. But in America and South Africa, and countries
around the globe, we cannot allow our progress to cloud the fact that our work
is not done. The struggles that follow the victory of formal equality and
universal franchise may not be as filled with drama and moral clarity as those
that came before, but they are no less important. For around the world today,
we still see children suffering from hunger, and disease; run-down schools, and
few prospects for the future. Around the world today, men and women are still
imprisoned for their political beliefs; and are still persecuted for what they
look like, or how they worship, or who they love.
We, too, must act on behalf of justice. We, too, must act on
behalf of peace. There are too many of us who happily embrace Madiba’s legacy
of racial reconciliation, but passionately resist even modest reforms that
would challenge chronic poverty and growing inequality. There are too many
leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba’s struggle for freedom, but do not
tolerate dissent from their own people. And there are too many of us who stand
on the sidelines, comfortable in complacency or cynicism when our voices must
be heard.
Time and time again, Obama makes me proud to be a American and an advocate for equality.
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