“My Fellow Americans, when we look back on the history of

this country, we see a record of almost unbelievable energy,

sacrifice, hard work—of impossible dreams that our ancestors
dreamed and made real. We see injustice, too, that weighs on
our hearts even today. But for every injustice there has always
been a voice crying out to right it. And America has always
listened to those voices.
“We are listening today. And perhaps it falls to us, to this first
generation of 21st century Americans, to say, once and for all,
that no child, no race, no creed, no ethnic community will ever
again be left out of the American dream. Through education,
through the opportunity to work and to enjoy the fruits of that
work, we can open every closed door, expand the horizons of all
Americans.
“Again and again we return to the same simple principles:
freedom, equality. The freedom to create, to prosper, to dream.
Equality before the law, in the workplace, and a chance for a
better life. And each time, in the process, America grows
stronger. The beacon of democracy grows brighter. The world
looks with new astonishment at what free people can do. We the
people are just getting started.”