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is not a day for politics
i saved this one opportunity
speak read it to you
about the mindless
menace of violence in america
which again stains are land
and every one of our lives
is that the concern
any one race
victims of the violence
are black
and white
rich and poor
young and old
and i know
they are most important of all
human beings
other human beings loved
and needed no one
can be certain who next will suffer
from some senseless acts
of bloodshed
and yet it goes on
and on
and on
in this country of ours
whenever any americans life is
taken by another american unnecessarily
whenever we tear at the fabric of our lives
Which another man has painfully
and clumsily woven for him self
and his children
whenever we do this
then the whole nation is
degraded
too often we honor swagger
and bluster and
the wielders of force.
too often we excuse those
who are willing to
build their own lives
on the shattered dreams
of another human being
but this much is clear
violence breeds violence
repression breeds retaliation
and only a cleansing
of our whole society
can remove this sickness
from our souls
when you teach a man to hate
and to fear his brother
when you teach
but he is a lesser man
because of his color
or his beliefs
or the policies that he pursues
when you teach that those who differ from you
threaten your freedom
or your job
or your home or your family
and you also learn to confront others
not as this fellow citizens
but his enemies
to be met not with cooperation
but with conquest
to be subjugated
and to be mastered.
we learn at the last
to look at our brothers as aliens
alien man
with whom we share a city
but not a community
men bound to us
in common dwelling
but not
in a common effort
you learn to share only a common fear
only a common desire
to retreat from each other
only a common impulse
to meet disagreement
with force.
Our lives on this planet
are too short
the work to be done
is too great
to let this spirit flourish
any longer
in this land of ours.
Of course, we cannot banish it with a program,
but we can perhaps remember
if only for a time
but those who live with us
are our brothers
that they share with us
this same short moment of life
that they seek
as do we
nothing but the chance
to live out their lives
in purpose
and in happiness
winning what satisfaction and
fulfillment
that they can.
Surely this bond
of common fate
surely this bond
of common goals
can begin to teach us something.
surely we can learn at the least
to look around at those
of our fellow man
and surely we can begin to work a little harder
to bind up the wounds among us
and to become in our hearts
brothers and countrymen
once again.