Video clip - Barbara Jordan's keynote address. Scroll down
for the text transcript.
It follows the full text transcript of
Barbara Jordan's keynote address, delivered at
New York, N.Y. - July 12, 1976.
Thank you Ladies
and Gentlemen for a very warm reception.
It was one hundred and
forty-four years ago, that members of the Democratic
Party first met in convention to select a
Presidential candidate.
Since that time,
Democrats have continued to convene once every
four years and draft a party platform and
nominate a Presidential candidate. And our
meeting this week is a continuation of that
tradition.
But there is something different about tonight.
There is something special about tonight. What
is different? What is special? I, Barbara
Jordan, am a keynote speaker.
A lot of years passed since 1832, and during
that time it would have been most unusual for
any national political party to ask that a
Barbara Jordan deliver a keynote address. But
tonight here I am. And I feel that
notwithstanding the past that my presence here
is one additional bit of evidence that the
American Dream need not forever be deferred.
Now that I have this grand distinction what in
the world am I supposed to say?
I could easily spend this time praising the
accomplishments of this party and attacking the
Republicans but I don't choose to do that.
I could list the many problems which Americans
have. I could list the problems which cause
people to feel cynical, angry, frustrated. Problems which include lack of integrity in
government; the feeling that the individual no
longer counts; the reality of material and
spiritual poverty; the feeling that the grand
American experiment is failing or has failed. I
could recite these problems and then I could sit
down and offer no solutions. But I don't choose
to do that either.
The citizens of America expect more. They
deserve and they want more than a recital of
problems.
We are a people in a quandary about the present.
We are a people in search of our future. We are
a people in search of a national community.
We are a people trying not only to solve the
problems of the present: unemployment,
inflation...but we are attempting on a larger
scale to fulfill the promise of America. We are
attempting to fulfill our national purpose; to
create and sustain a society in which all of us
are equal.
Throughout out history, when people have looked
for new ways to solve their problems, and to
uphold the principles of this nation, many times
they have turned to political parties. They have
often turned to the Democratic Party.
What is it, what is it about the Democratic
Party that makes it the instrument that people
use when they search for ways to shape their
future? Well I believe the answer to that
question lies in our concept of governing. Our
concept of governing is derived from our view of
people. It is a concept deeply rooted in a set
of beliefs firmly etched in the national
conscience, of all of us.
Now what are these beliefs?
First, we believe in equality for all and
privileges for none. This is a belief that each
American regardless of background has equal
standing in the public forum, all of us. Because
we believe this idea so firmly, we are inclusive
rather than an exclusive party. Let everybody
come.
I think it no accident that most of those
emigrating to America in the 19th century
identified with the Democratic Party. We are a
heterogeneous party made up of Americans of
diverse backgrounds.
We believe that the people are the source of all
governmental power; that the authority of the
people is to be extended, not restricted. This
can be accomplished only by providing each
citizen with every opportunity to participate in
the management of the government. They must have
that.
We believe that the government which represents
the authority of all the people, not just one
interest group, but all the people, has an
obligation to actively underscore, actively seek
to remove those obstacles which would block
individual achievement...obstacles emanating
from race, sex, economic condition. The
government must seek to remove them.
We are a party of innovation. We do not reject
our traditions, but we are willing to adapt to
changing circumstances, when change we must. We
are willing to suffer the discomfort of change
in order to achieve a better future.
We have a positive vision of the future founded
on the belief that the gap between the promise
and reality of America can one day be finally
closed. We believe that.
This my friends, is the bedrock of our concept
of governing. This is a part of the reason why
Americans have turned to the Democratic Party.
These are the foundations upon which a national
community can be built.
Let's all understand that these guiding
principles cannot be discarded for short-term
political gains. They represent what this
country is all about. They are indigenous to the
American idea. And these are principles which
are not negotiable.
In other times, I could stand here and give this
kind of exposition on the beliefs of the
Democratic Party and that would be enough. But
today that is not enough. People want more. That
is not sufficient reason for the majority of the
people of this country to vote Democratic. We
have made mistakes. In our haste to do all
things for all people, we did not foresee the
full consequences of our actions. And when the
people raised their voices, we didn't hear. But
our deafness was only a temporary condition, and
not an irreversible condition.
Even as I stand here and admit that we have made
mistakes I still believe that as the people of
America sit in judgment on each party, they will
recognize that our mistakes were mistakes of the
heart. They'll recognize that.
And now we must look to the future. Let us heed
the voice of the people and recognize their
common sense. If we do not, we not only
blaspheme our political heritage, we ignore the
common ties that bind all Americans.
Many fear the future, Many are distrustful of
their leaders, and believe that their voices are
never heard. Many seek only to satisfy their
private work wants. To satisfy private
interests.
But this is the great danger America faces. That
we will cease to be one nation and become
instead a collection of interest groups: city
against suburb, region against region,
individual against individual. Each seeking to
satisfy private wants.
If that happens, who then will speak for
America?
Who then will speak for the common good?
This is the question which must be answered in
1976.
Are we to be one people bound together by common
spirit sharing in a common endeavor or will we
become a divided nation?
For all of its uncertainty, we cannot flee the
future. We must not become the new puritans and
reject our society. We must address and master
the future together. It can be done if we
restore the belief that we share a sense of
national community, that we share a common
national endeavor. It can be done.
There is no executive order; there is no law
that can require the American people to form a
national community. This we must do as
individuals and if we do it as individuals,
there is no President of the United States who
can veto that decision.
As a first step, We must restore our belief in
ourselves. We are a generous people so why can't
we be generous with each other? We need to take
to heart the words spoken by Thomas Jefferson:
Let us restore to social intercourse the harmony
and that affection without which liberty and
even life are but dreary things.
A nation is formed by the willingness of each of
us to share in the responsibility for upholding
the common good.
A government is invigorated when each of us is
willing to participate in shaping the future of
this nation.
In this election year we must define the common
good and begin again to shape a common good and
begin again to shape a common future. Let each
person do his or her part. If one citizen is
unwilling to participate, all of us are going to
suffer. For the American idea, though it is
shared by all of us, is realized in each one of
us.
And now, what are those of us who are elected
public officials supposed to do? We call
ourselves public servants but I'll tell you
this: we as public servants must set an example
for the rest of the nation. It is hypocritical
for the public official to admonish and exhort
the people to uphold the common good. More is
required of public officials than slogans and
handshakes and press releases. More is required.
We must hold ourselves strictly accountable. We
must provide the people with a vision of the
future.
If we promise as public officials, we must
deliver. If we as public officials propose, we
must produce. If we say to the American people
it is time for you to be sacrificial; sacrifice.
If the public official says that, we (public
officials) must be the first to give. We must
be. And again, if we make mistakes, we must be
willing to admit them. We have to do that. What
we have to do is strike a balance between the
idea that government should do everything and
the idea, the belief, that government ought to
do nothing. Strike a balance.
Let there be no illusions about the difficulty
of forming this kind of a national community.
It's tough, difficult, not easy. But a spirit of
harmony will survive in America only if each of
us remembers that we share a common destiny.
I have confidence that we can form this kind of
national community.
I have confidence that the Democratic Party can
lead the way. I have confidence. We cannot
improve on the system of government handed down
to us by the founders of the Republic, there is
no way to improve upon that. But what we can do
is to find new ways to implement that system and
realize our destiny.
Now, I began this speech by commenting to you on
the uniqueness of a Barbara Jordan making the
keynote address. Well I am going to close my
speech by quoting a Republican President and I
ask you that as you listen to these words of
Abraham Lincoln, relate them to the concept of
national community in which every last one of us
participates:
“As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a
master. This expresses my idea of Democracy.
Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the
difference is no Democracy.”
