[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 63 (Thursday, May 19, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: May 19, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS OF GEN. COLIN POWELL AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY
Mr. DOLE. There is no doubt about the fact that Colin Powell--as I
have just indicated in commenting on the Brown decision--is one of
America's most respected public figures. His record of service to his
country, his patriotism, and his character make him a role model for
all young Americans.
This past Saturday, General Powell delivered an eloquent commencement
speech at Howard University here in Washington, DC. His speech speaks
to many of the complex challenges of our time, and I recommend it
highly to all of my colleagues and anybody else who might have an
interest in what I think was one of the outstanding speeches of our
time.
I ask unanimous consent that the text of General Powell's entire
speech be printed in the Congressional Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Commencement Address at Howard University
(By Gen. Colin L. Powell)
Thank you for your very warm reception.
Mr. President, Mr. Chairman, members of the board of
trustees, fellow honorees, alumni, faculty members, family
members, the great Howard Class of 1994.
I am so pleased to be with you on this very beautiful
spring morning. I am deeply honored to be the recipient of an
honorary degree, alongside two gentlemen as distinguished as
Dr. Cheek and Ambassador Annenberg. For that, I thank the
university and the board of trustees.
Let me also take this opportunity to extend my thanks to
President and Mrs. Jennifer for their service to Howard
University and to wish them every success at the University
of Texas as they begin a new phase in their life of service
to American youth. I also congratulate Dr. Ladner on her
elevation to acting president.
I am especially pleased to be the commencement speaker for
the class of 1994. I have wanted to be the commencement
speaker for a number of years and this is my lucky year.
Because you know, these days you get a lot of attention
being a speaker at Howard University.
Is Connie Chung here today so I can get on her ``Eye to
Eye'' television show.
The real challenge in being a commencement speaker is
figuring out how long to speak.
The graduating students want a short speech, 5-6 minutes
and let's get it over. They are not going to remember who
their commencement speaker was anyway. P-O-W-E-L-L.
Parents are another matter, arrayed in all their finery
they have waited a long time for this day, some not sure it
would every come, and they want it to last. So go on and talk
for two or three hours. We brought our lunch and want our
money's worth.
The faculty member who suggested the speaker hopes the
speech will be long enough to be respectable, but not so long
that he has to take leave for a few weeks beginning Monday.
So the poor speaker is left figuring out what to do. My
simple rule is to respond to audience reaction. If you are
appreciative and applaud a lot early on, you get a nice short
speech. If you make me work for it, we're liable to be here a
long time.
You know, the controversy over Howard's speaking policy has
its positive side. It has caused the university to go through
a process of self-examination, which is always a healthy
thing to do.
Since many people have been giving advice about how to
handle this matter, I though I might as well too.
First, I believe with all my heart that Howard must
continue to serve as an institution of learning excellence
where freedom of speech is strongly encouraged and rigorously
protected.
That is at the very essence of a great university and
Howard is a great university.
And freedom of speech means permitting the widest range of
views to be presented for debate, however controversial those
views may be.
The first amendment right of free speech is intended to
protect the controversial and even outrageous word, and not
just comforting platitudes, too mundane to need protection.
Some say that by hosting controversial speakers who shock
our sensibilities Howard is in some way promoting or
endorsing their message. Not at all. Howard has helped put
their message in perspective while protecting their right to
be heard. So that the message can be exposed to the full
light of day.
I have every confidence in the ability of the
administration, the faculty and the students of Howard to
determine who should speak on this campus. No outside help
needed, thank you.
I also have complete confidence in the students of Howard
to make informed, educated judgments about what they hear.
But for this freedom to hear all views, you bear a burden
to sort out wisdom from foolishness.
There is great wisdom in the message of self-reliance, of
education, of hard work, and of the need to raise strong
families.
There is utter foolishness, evil and danger in the message
of hatred, or of condoning violence, however cleverly the
message is packaged or entertainingly it is presented.
We must find nothing to stand up and cheer about or applaud
in a message of racial or ethnic hatred.
I was at the inauguration of President Mandela in South
Africa earlier this week. You were there too by television
and watched that remarkable event.
Together, we saw what can happen when people stop hating
and begin reconciling.
De Klerk the jailer became de Klerk the liberator and
Mandela the prisoner became Mandela the president.
Twenty-seven years of imprisonment did not embitter Nelson
Mandela. He invited his three jail keepers to the ceremony.
He used his liberation to work with his former tormentors
to create a new South Africa and to eliminate the curse of
apartheid from the face of the Earth. What a glorious
example! What a glorious day it was!
Last week you also saw Prime Minister Rabin and PLO
Chairman Arafat sign another agreement on their still
difficult, long road to peace, trying to end hundreds of
years of hatred and two generations of violence. Palestinian
authorities have now begun entering Gaza and Jericho.
In these two historic events, intractable enemies of the
past have shown how you can join hands to create a force of
moral authority more powerful than any army and which can
change the world.
Although there are still places of darkness in the world
where the light of reconciliation has not penetrated, these
two beacons of hope show what can be done when men and women
of good will work together for peace and for progress.
There is a message in these two historic events for us
assembled here today. As the world goes forward, we cannot
start going backward.
African-Americans have come too far and we have too far yet
to go to take a detour into the swamp of hatred.
We, as a people who have suffered so much from the hatred
of others, must not now show tolerance for any movement or
philosophy that has at its core the hatred of Jews or of
anyone else.
Our future lies in the philosophy of love and understanding
and caring and building. Not of hatred and tearing down.
We know that. We must stand up for it and speak up for it!
We must not be silent if we would live up to the legacy of
those who have gone before us from this campus.
I have no doubt that this controversy will pass and Howard
University will emerge even stronger, even more than ever a
symbol of hope, of promise and of excellence.
That is Howard's destiny!
Ambassador Annenberg, one of your honorees today, is a dear
friend of mine and is one of America's leading businessmen
and greatest philanthropists.
You have heard of his recent contributions to American
education and his generous gift to Howard.
A few years ago I told Mr. Annenberg about a project I was
involved in to build a memorial to the Buffalo Soldiers,
those brave black cavalrymen of the West whose valor had long
gone unrecognized.
Ambassador Annenberg responded immediately and with his
help the Memorial now stands proudly at Fort Leavenworth,
Kansas.
The Buffalo Soldiers were formed in 1867, at the same time
as Howard University. It is even said that your mascot, the
bison, came from the bison, or buffalo, soldiers.
Both Howard and the Buffalo Soldiers owe their early
success to the dedication and faith of white military
officers who served in the Civil War.
In Howard's case, of course, it was your namesake, Major
General Oliver Howard.
For the 10th cavalry Buffalo Soldiers, it was Colonel
Benjamin Grierson who formed and commanded that regiment for
almost 25 years. And he fought that entire time to achieve
equal status for his black comrades.
Together, Howard University and the Buffalo Soldiers showed
what black Americans were capable of when given the education
and opportunity; and when shown respect and when accorded
dignity.
I am a direct descendent of those Buffalo Soldiers, of the
Tuskegee airmen; and of the Navy's golden thirteen, the
Montfort Point Marines, and all the black men and women who
served this Nation in uniform for over 300 years.
All of whom served in their time and in their way and with
whatever opportunity existed then to break down the walls of
discrimination and racism to make the path easier for those
of us who came after them.
I climbed on their backs and stood on their shoulders to
reach the top of my chosen profession to become chairman of
the American JCS.
I will never forget my debt to them and to the many white
``Colonel Greirsons'' and ``General Howards'' who helped me
over the 35 years of my life as a soldier.
They would say to me now, ``Well done, and now let others
climb up on your shoulders.''
Howard's ``Buffalo soldiers'' did the same thing and on
their shoulders now stand governors and mayors and
Congressmen and generals and doctors and artists and writers
and teachers and leaders in every segment of American
society.
And they did it for the class of 1994. So that you can now
continue climbing to reach the top of the mountain; while
reaching down and back to help those less fortunate.
You face `great expectations.' Much has been given to you
and much is expected from you.
You have been given a quality education, presented by a
distinguished faculty who sit here today in pride of you.
You have inquiring minds and strong bodies given to you by
God and by your parents; who sit behind you and pass on to
you today their still unrealized dreams and ambitions.
You have been given citizenship in a country like none
other on Earth; with opportunities available to you like
nowhere else on Earth; beyond anything available to me when I
sat in a place similar to this 36 years ago.
What will be asked of you is hard work. Nothing will be
handed to you. You are entering a life of continuous study
and struggle to achieve your goals.
A life of searching to find that which you do well and love
doing. Never stop seeking.
I want you to have faith in yourselves. I want you to
believe to the depth of your soul that you can accomplish any
task that you set your mind and energy to.
I want you to be proud of your heritage. Study your
origins. Teach your children racial pride and draw strength
and inspiration from the cultures of our forbearers.
Not as a way of drawing back from American society and its
European roots.
But as a way of showing that there are other roots as well.
African and Caribbean roots that are also a source of
nourishment for the American family tree.
To show that African-Americans are more than a product of
our slave experience.
To show that our varied backgrounds are as rich as that of
any other American; not better or greater, but every bit as
equal.
Our black heritage must be a foundation stone we can build
on, not a place to withdraw into.
I want you to fight racism. But remember, as Doctor King
and Doctor Mandela have taught us, racism is a disease of the
racist. Never let it become yours. White South Africans were
cured of the outward symptoms of this disease by President
Mandela's inauguration, just as surely as black South
Africans were liberated from apartheid.
Racism is a disease you can help cure here by standing up
for your rights and by your commitment to excellence and to
performance.
By being ready to take advantage of your rights and the
opportunities that will come from those rights.
Never let the dying hand of racism rest on your shoulder,
weighing you down. Let racism always be someone else's burden
to carry.
As you seek your way in the world, never fail to find a way
to serve your community. Use your education and your success
in life to help those still trapped in cycles of poverty and
violence.
Above all, never lose faith in America. Its faults are
yours to fix, not to curse.
America is a family. There may be differences and disputes
in the family but we must not allow the family to be broken
into warring factions.
From the diversity of our people, let us draw strength and
not cause weakness.
Believe in America with all your heart and soul and mind.
It remains the `last best hope of Earth.'
You are its inheritors and its future is today placed in
your hands.
Go forth from this place today inspired by those who went
before you. Go forth with the love of your families and the
blessings of your teachers.
Go forth to make this a better country and society.
Prosper, raise strong families, remembering that all you will
leave behind is your good works and your children.
Go forth with my humble congratulations.
And let your dreams be your only limitations. Now and
forever.
Thank you and God bless you.
Have a great life!
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