Bill Clinton Quotes
We have torn down the barriers in our laws. Now we must break down the barriers in our lives, our minds and our hearts …
William Clinton, 42nd President of the United States (Democrat, AR), Speech, University of California at San Diego, June 14, 1997
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
This was an indirect slap at the Boy Scouts of America. At the time, racial segregation was legal and overtly practiced in the Southern States. The Boy Scouts could have been a great force for desegregation, but the leadership did not have that as a value for the organization. The Girl Scout leadership however saw the contradiction between segregation and the supposed values of America and their own organization. They were not only very active but very successful at desegregation at a time when they were atypical, and for most Americans, segregation was the norm.
This was a very courageous speech for the President to give. Senator Hubert Humphrey had proposed civil rights legislation. At the time most of the racial conservative members of Congress were Democrats and not Republicans as they would become after Civil Rights legislation actually passed in 1964. There was little possibility that the civil rights law would pass as the Southern Democrats could filibuster it in the Senate. None the less Truman supported the legislation and the principle of equal rights despite the fact that he was a Southerner and he knew he would lose the support of the conservative wing of his party.
In 1968 Carlos and Tommie Smith had won an Olympic track medal, and while standing on the ceremonial medal stand they each raised a black-gloved fist in a Black power salute as the Star Spangled Banner was played and the American flag was raised. The scene was televised around the world. See {620084} for Smith’s statement about the protest.
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William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who was the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Clinton was previously Governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and 1983 to 1992, and the Arkansas Attorney General from 1977 to 1979. Clinton was born William Jefferson Blythe III – he changed to his stepfather's name at age 15.
