Back-to-back speeches at the 99th NAACP Convention, July 2008: on Principles & Values


Barack Obama: We have to demand more from ourselves

We also have to demand more from ourselves. Now, I know some say I’ve been too tough on folks about this responsibility stuff. But I’m not going to stop talking about it. Because I believe that in the end, it doesn’t matter how much money we invest in our communities, or how many 10-point plans we propose, or how many government programs we launch--none of it will make any difference if we don’t seize more responsibility in our own lives. That’s how we’ll truly honor those who came before us. Because I know that Thurgood Marshall did not argue Brown versus Board of Education so that some of us could stop doing our jobs as parents. And I know that nine little children did not walk through a schoolhouse door in Little Rock so that we could stand by and let our children drop out of school and turn to gangs for the support they are not getting elsewhere. That’s not the freedom they fought so hard to achieve. That’s not the America they gave so much to build. That’s not the dream they had for our children
Source: McCain-Obama speeches at 99th NAACP Convention Jul 12, 2008

  • The above quotations are from Back-to-back speeches by John McCain and Barack Obama at the 99th NAACP Convention, July 2008.
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