In Memory - September 11, 2001

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50 Years Ago Today: "I Have A Dream"

An August Dream
24"x36" oil on linen 2009
painting by Gregg Chadwick

Fifty years ago, on 28 August, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered an August dream on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. Fifty years later, the struggle continues to deliver the hopes and promises of King's dream. I urge you today to take a moment to reflect upon King's legacy. How can  you help create a world without injustice and prejudice?

Below is the full text of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have A Dream"speech:

"I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But 100 years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land.

And so we've come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of colour are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we've come to cash this check - a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. 1963 is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual.
There will be neither rest nor tranquillity in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: in the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realise that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights: "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied and we will not be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

 I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed - we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I will go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.

With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day, this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning: "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring." And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California.
But not only that.
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, We are free at last!"

Permission granted by Intellectual Properties Management, Atlanta, Georgia, as manager of the King Estate. Please further Dr King's legacy by making community service a way of life.
Please visit the King Center's website.

In His Own Words: Martin Luther King Jr.

The Art World's Day for Detroit

by Gregg Chadwick
Tyler Green at Modern Art Notes, along with art blogs and art sites across the globe will be concentrating today on the plight of the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Tyler Green writes, "In an effort to spotlight the collections at the Detroit Institute of Arts that would be lost if the threatened sale of art in collections at the DIA are sold, all day long  Modern Art Notes and many other sites will be spotlight art at the DIA. "

Sakyamuni
 Chinese Sculptor
late 13th/early 14th Century
wood with lacquer,gilding,and traces of color
11 3/4" x 88 1/8" x 6 1/2"
Detroit Institute of Arts

I heartily agree with Tyler that the more we can put a spotlight on the Detroit Institute of Arts rich collection, the more concerned - art lovers, historians, and the general public will be about the peril that the collection faces. 

Vilhelm Hammershoi
Interior With A Lady
21 5/8" x 20 7/8" oil on canvas 1901
Detroit Institute of Arts

Christopher Knight in the Los Angeles Times writes, "The premise is simple and elegant: Use the Internet to:

 a) spread the word to a diverse, international art audience about what could be lost if any sale goes forward;

 b) suggest that readers expand the process by posting their own links and images to social media sites such as Twitter and Instagram; 

and c) generate support for the Detroit Institute of Arts by asking readers to click through and buy a museum membership (an individual membership starts at $65)."

Diego Velázquez
A Man
20 1/4" x 15 3/4" oil on canvas 1623/1630
Detroit Institute of Arts

How can we help support the DIA? As Tyler Green suggests: "Share artwork on MAN and at other sites with your friends. If you live in Michigan, tell your elected officials that the future of Detroit is important to you and that you don’t support a fire sale of the city’s future."

 Best of all: Join us in becoming a member of the Detroit Institute of Arts.

The Detroit Institute of Arts  is a vital part of the city of Detroit and a conduit for the greater community, including the more prosperous suburbs, to interact. I love the DIA's   (@DIADetroit ) twitter profile description: 

Detroit Institute of Arts. Home to 1st VanGogh in US Museum, Rivera's Detroit Industry murals, & city's best mac-n-cheese. Let yourself go!

Remember, all day long, roughly every hour, many sites plan to post a new image from the museum's staggering art collection, which is among the half-dozen best in the United States. Please get involved - tweet, post, write and create today for Detroit.

To read more about A Day for Detroit, check out these stories in the Detroit Free Press , the Detroit News , and the Los Angeles Times. 

Here's a list of sites that have signed on to the project:

• Modern Art Notes
• MANPodcast.com
• Art F City
• Bad at Sports
• Artinfo’s In the Air
• Ed Winkleman
• Mary Louise Schumacher
• Greg Allen
• Two Coats of Paint
• The Art Blog
• Hyperallergic LABS
• Eyeteeth
• Art Practical
• Daily Serving
• Paper Monument
• Italy’s Secret Places
• ArtSmartTalk
• Chad Edward
• The New England Journal of Aesthetic Research
• WBUR’s The Artery
• Speed of Life 

On Twitter: @KnightLAT @greggchadwick @TylerGreenDC M.L. Schumacher ‏@artcity 

Hashtags: #DayDetroit #Detroit

Introducing the Getty Museum's Open Content Program

by Gregg Chadwick

Unknown maker, French (photographer) , Polyorama Panoptique Lorchette Enchantée, French, about 1855, Lithograph, colored, Image: 8.3 x 16.5 cm (3 1/4 x 6 1/2 in.)
Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program

The Getty Museum in Los Angeles is making available, without charge, all available digital images to which the Getty holds rights or that are in the public domain. These images may  be used for any purpose. No permission is required. As an artist I am excited to delve into the Getty's rich collection in search of inspiration. In our litigious and money conscious world, it is refreshing that the Getty Museum and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam are putting creativity and scholarship above image control and profit.

Download free images of artworks in the Getty Museum's collection at Open Content Images. 

"Why open content? Why now? The Getty was founded on the conviction that understanding art makes the world a better place, and sharing our digital resources is the natural extension of that belief. This move is also an educational imperative. Artists, students, teachers, writers, and countless others rely on artwork images to learn, tell stories, exchange ideas, and feed their own creativity. In its discussion of open content, the most recent Horizon Report, Museum Edition stated that 'it is now the mark—and social responsibility—of world-class institutions to develop and share free cultural and educational resources.' I agree wholeheartedly." 
- Getty CEO James Cuno in The Getty Iris 



Info from the Getty Museum on Open Content:

Why Open Content?

The Getty adopted the Open Content Program because we recognized the need to share images of works of art in an unrestricted manner, freely, so that all those who create or appreciate art—scholars, artists, art lovers, and entrepreneurs—will have greater access to high-quality digital images for their studies and projects. Art inspires us, and imagination and creativity lead to artistic expressions that expand knowledge and understanding. The Getty sincerely hopes that people will use the open content images for a wide range of activities and that they will share the fruits of their labors with others.

Access to Open Content Images

Initially, the images available through the Open Content Program are of works in the J. Paul Getty Museum's collections. Over time, images from the Getty Research Institute and the Getty Conservation Institute will be added. Museum images can be found on the Museum's Collection webpages or on the Getty Search Gateway. Those available as open content images are identified with a "Download" link. Images provided are JPEG files at a minimum of 300 DPI. See the Guidelines for Successful Printing (PDF) for more information on file format. 

If you need new photography, resizing, or color correction, you can request those services by Contacting Museum Rights & Reproductions. A fee (PDF)will be charged for this service.

Public Domain and Rights

Open content images are digital surrogates of works of art that are in the Getty's collections and in the public domain, for which we hold all rights, or for which we are not aware of any rights restrictions. Rights restrictions are based on copyright, trademark, privacy and publicity laws, and contractual obligations. If an image you want is not designated as an open content image, it is because one or more of the above identified legal rights restricts our ability to make that content available under this program. While the Getty reviews the metadata about each picture before making it available as an open content image, there may be some underlying rights that were unknown to us. For that reason, we strongly recommend that users consider the possibility that rights of third parties may be involved, and permission for those rights may need to be obtained by the user for the proposed use.

Fair Use

Open content images can be used for any purpose without first seeking permission from the Getty. Images of many other works in the collections are also on our website in varying formats. The Getty supports fair use of images when the applicable legal criteria are met. For more information on use of digital images of works in the Getty's collections, please refer to the Getty'sTerms of Use.

Hippolyte Bayard (photographer) [French, 1801 - 1887]
Arrangement of Specimens
27.7 x 21.6 cm (10 15/16 x 8 1/2 in.) Cyanotype [Direct Negative]  about 1842
Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program

Attribution to the Getty

Please use the following source credit when reproducing an image:

Digital image courtesy of the Getty's Open Content Program.

When using open content images, you should not suggest or imply that the Getty endorses, approves of, or participated in your projects.

Publications Using Open Content Images

While there are no restrictions or conditions on the use of open content images, the Getty would appreciate a gratis copy of any scholarly publications in which the images are reproduced in order to maintain the collection bibliography. Copies may be sent to the attention of:

Open Content Program
Registrar's Office
The J. Paul Getty Museum
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1000
Los Angeles, CA 90049

Frequently Asked Questions

Get answers to frequently asked questions about the Getty's Open Content Program.

Learn more about our Open Content Program: http://bit.ly/19e5I5r 

Love art? Follow the Getty on Google+ to stay in touch:http://bit.ly/gettygoogleplus

Banner image, clockwise from left: Irises (detail), 1889, Vincent van Gogh. Oil on canvas, 28 x 36 5/8 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, 90.PA.20; Mixing Vessel with Apollo and Artemis(detail), about 415–400 B.C., attributed to the Palermo Painter. Greek, made in Lucania, South Italy. Terracotta, 22 1/16 x 13 3/8 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, 85.AE.101;Decorated Initial O (detail) in the Stammheim Missal, about 1170s, unknown illuminator. German, made in Hildesheim. Tempera colors, gold leaf, and silver leaf on parchment, 11 1/8 x 7 7/16 in. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Ms. 64, fol. 154v (97.MG.21.fol. 154v)

Showing our support & solidarity for the brave #LGBT community in Russia.

NOH8Campaign NOH8 Campaign

Showing our support & solidarity for the brave #LGBT community in Russia. #NOH8WorldWide! pic.twitter.com/hyT2FkUsGD

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Ruth Asawa

In Memoriam - Ruth Asawa in her studio, 1969

(via Community of Creatives)

Sad to hear the news that artist Ruth Asawa passed away yesterday. 

"Enfin te voilà, je t’attendais" (Alain Eludut)

Originally posted by arbrealettres le 28 juillet 2013 

"Enfin te voilà, je t’attendais"

Au petit matin les murs se lézardent
- rien de ce qui tremble ne m’indiffère
Je sens les vibrations les secousses
j’attends la marque du divin
quelque chose comme "Enfin te voilà, je t’attendais".

(Alain Eludut)

Artwork: Gregg Chadwick

Justice for Trayvon Rallies Across the US Today

by Gregg Chadwick

Sometimes an image can cut through ignorance and provide a context for understanding and empathy. Today two photos from the more than 100 Justice for Trayvon Martin Rallies across the country struck me deeply:

Black Life Matters
from #JusticeforTrayvon Rally, July 20, 2013 in Atlanta Georgia
photo via @ajc and @thinkprogress

I Am Not A Suspect
from #JusticeforTrayvon Rally, July 20, 2013 in New York City

Towards A MORE Perfect Union: President Obama’s Remarks on Trayvon Martin (full transcript)

President Obama's Remarks About the Killing of Florida Teenager Trayvon Martin and "Stand Your Ground" Laws on Friday, July 19, 2013 at the White House
(full transcript and video)

The reason I actually wanted to come out today is not to take questions, but to speak to an issue that obviously has gotten a lot of attention over the course of the last week, the issue of the Trayvon Martin ruling. I gave a preliminary statement right after the ruling on Sunday, but watching the debate over the course of the last week I thought it might be useful for me to expand on my thoughts a little bit.



First of all, you know,  I want to make sure that, once again, I send my thoughts and prayers, as well as Michelle’s, to the family of Trayvon Martin, and to remark on the incredible grace and dignity with which they have dealt with the entire situation. I can only imagine what they’re going through, and it’s remarkable how they’ve handled it.

The second thing I want to say is to reiterate what I said on Sunday, which is there are going to be a lot of arguments about the legal issues in the case. I’ll let all the legal analysts and talking heads address those issues.

The judge conducted the trial in a professional manner. The prosecution and the defense made their arguments. The juries were properly instructed that in a case such as this, reasonable doubt was relevant, and they rendered a verdict. And once the jury’s spoken, that’s how our system works.

But I did want to just talk a little bit about context and how people have responded to it and how people are feeling. You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago. And when you think about why, in the African- American community at least, there’s a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it’s important to recognize that the African- American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that - that doesn’t go away.

There are very few African-American men in this country who haven’t had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me.

And there are very few African-American men who haven’t had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me, at least before I was a Senator. There are very few African-Americans who haven’t had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. That happens often.

And you know, I don’t want to exaggerate this, but those sets of experiences inform how the African-American community interprets what happened one night in Florida. And it’s inescapable for people to bring those experiences to bear.

The African-American community is also knowledgeable that there is a history of racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws, everything from the death penalty to enforcement of our drug laws. And that ends up having an impact in terms of how people interpret the case.

Now, this isn’t to say that the African-American community is naive about the fact that African-American young men are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system, that they are disproportionately both victims and perpetrators of violence. It’s not to make excuses for that fact, although black folks do interpret the reasons for that in a historical context.

We understand that some of the violence that takes place in poor black neighborhoods around the country is born out of a very violent past in this country, and that the poverty and dysfunction that we see in those communities can be traced to a very difficult history.

And so the fact that sometimes that’s unacknowledged adds to the frustration. And the fact that a lot of African-American boys are painted with a broad brush and the excuse is given, well, there are these statistics out there that show that African-American boys are more violent -- using that as an excuse to then see sons treated differently causes pain.

I think the African-American community is also not naive in understanding that statistically somebody like Trayvon Martin was probably statistically more likely to be shot by a peer than he was by somebody else.

So -- so folks understand the challenges that exist for African- American boys, but they get frustrated, I think, if they feel that there’s no context for it or -- and that context is being denied. And -- and that all contributes, I think, to a sense that if a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario, that, from top to bottom, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different.

Now, the question for me at least, and I think, for a lot of folks is, where do we take this? How do we learn some lessons from this and move in a positive direction? You know, I think it’s understandable that there have been demonstrations and vigils and protests, and some of that stuff is just going to have to work its way through as long as it remains nonviolent. If I see any violence, then I will remind folks that that dishonors what happened to Trayvon Martin and his family.

But beyond protests or vigils, the question is, are there some concrete things that we might be able to do? I know that Eric Holder is reviewing what happened down there, but I think it’s important for people to have some clear expectations here. Traditionally, these are issues of state and local government -- the criminal code. And law enforcement has traditionally done it at the state and local levels, not at the federal levels.

That doesn’t mean, though, that as a nation, we can’t do some things that I think would be productive. So let me just give a couple of specifics that I’m still bouncing around with my staff so we’re not rolling out some five-point plan, but some areas where I think all of us could potentially focus.

Number one, precisely because law enforcement is often determined at the state and local level, I think it’d be productive for the Justice Department -- governors, mayors to work with law enforcement about training at the state and local levels in order to reduce the kind of mistrust in the system that sometimes currently exists.

You know, when I was in Illinois I passed racial profiling legislation. And it actually did just two simple things. One, it collected data on traffic stops and the race of the person who was stopped. But the other thing was it resourced us training police departments across the state on how to think about potential racial bias and ways to further professionalize what they were doing.

And initially, the police departments across the state were resistant, but actually they came to recognize that if it was done in a fair, straightforward way, that it would allow them to do their jobs better and communities would have more confidence in them and in turn be more helpful in applying the law. And obviously law enforcement’s got a very tough job.

So that’s one area where I think there are a lot of resources and best practices that could be brought bear if state and local governments are receptive. And I think a lot of them would be. And -- and let’s figure out other ways for us to push out that kind of training.

Along the same lines, I think it would be useful for us to examine some state and local laws to see if it -- if they are designed in such a way that they may encourage the kinds of altercations and confrontations and tragedies that we saw in the Florida case, rather than diffuse potential altercations.

I know that there’s been commentary about the fact that the stand your ground laws in Florida were not used as a defense in the case.

On the other hand, if we’re sending a message as a society in our communities that someone who is armed potentially has the right to use those firearms even if there’s a way for them to exit from a situation, is that really going to be contributing to the kind of peace and security and order that we’d like to see?

And for those who resist that idea that we should think about something like these “stand your ground” laws, I just ask people to consider if Trayvon Martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk? And do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman, who had followed him in a car, because he felt threatened? And if the answer to that question is at least ambiguous, it seems to me that we might want to examine those kinds of laws.

Number three -- and this is a long-term project: We need to spend some time in thinking about how do we bolster and reinforce our African-American boys? And this is something that Michelle and I talk a lot about. There are a lot of kids out there who need help who are getting a lot of negative reinforcement. And is there more that we can do to give them the sense that their country cares about them and values them and is willing to invest in them?

You know, I’m not naive about the prospects of some brand-new federal program.

I’m not sure that that’s what we’re talking about here. But I do recognize that as president, I’ve got some convening power.

And there are a lot of good programs that are being done across the country on this front. And for us to be able to gather together business leaders and local elected officials and clergy and celebrities and athletes and figure out how are we doing a better job helping young African-American men feel that they’re a full part of this society and that -- and that they’ve got pathways and avenues to succeed -- you know, I think that would be a pretty good outcome from what was obviously a tragic situation. And we’re going to spend some time working on that and thinking about that.

And then finally, I think it’s going to be important for all of us to do some soul-searching. You know, there has been talk about should we convene a conversation on race. I haven’t seen that be particularly productive when politicians try to organize conversations. They end up being stilted and politicized, and folks are locked into the positions they already have.

On the other hand, in families and churches and workplaces, there’s a possibility that people are a little bit more honest, and at least you ask yourself your own questions about, am I wringing as much bias out of myself as I can; am I judging people, as much as I can, based on not the color of their skin but the content of their character? That would, I think, be an appropriate exercise in the wake of this tragedy.

And let me just leave you with -- with a final thought, that as difficult and challenging as this whole episode has been for a lot of people, I don’t want us to lose sight that things are getting better. Each successive generation seems to be making progress in changing attitudes when it comes to race. I doesn’t mean that we’re in a postracial society. It doesn’t mean that racism is eliminated. But you know, when I talk to Malia and Sasha and I listen to their friends and I see them interact, they’re better than we are. They’re better than we were on these issues. And that’s true in every community that I’ve visited all across the country.

And so, you know, we have to be vigilant and we have to work on these issues, and those of us in authority should be doing everything we can to encourage the better angels of our nature as opposed to using these episodes to heighten divisions. But we should also have confidence that kids these days I think have more sense than we did back then, and certainly more than our parents did or our grandparents did, and that along this long, difficult journey, you know, we’re becoming a more perfect union -- not a perfect union, but a more perfect union.