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Mexico City
February 21, 2006
Thank you all for joining us here today. I especially wish to thank Dr. Joel Cortes, Coordinator for Secondary Education in the Federal District; thank you also to Ing. Mauricio Gonzalez and Lic. Alejandro Aguilera Andaluz for joining us from the Delegación Miguel Hidalgo. And I am especially happy that the children of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Secondary School are here with us.
February is a very special month in the United States, dedicated to remembering the numerous contributions of African Americans throughout our history. This February, we note with sadness the recent passing of Coretta Scott King, the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Her death has given us pause to reflect on the values for which she and her husband dedicated their lives. The Reverend King believed that injustice anywhere presents a threat to justice everywhere, and refused to stand silent in the face of wrong. Here in Mexico and around the world there are statues, schools and monuments that recall his life and his commitment to peace and equality.
I always find it appropriate that Dr. King’s statue here faces that of President Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln fought to uphold the rights of all persons to live freely. Dr. and Mrs. King carried that battle on, fighting the injustices that African Americans faced at one time in the United States. We are proud to claim both Lincoln and the King family as heroes in our country -- the values for which they fought are universal and as relevant in the world today as in their time.
In The Strength of Love, written in 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, that “good neighbors look beyond the external accidents [of birth] and discern those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers.” Thanks to the visionary leadership of people like Martin Luther King, Jr., today, the United States is one of the most pluralistic and diverse cultures in the world. People of all backgrounds, all colors, and all religions live together in the United States in unusual peace and harmony, and the diverseness of our backgrounds is a cause for celebration. Our society surely is not perfect, but we stand as a beacon of openness and plurality for societies around the world. Our laws, our culture, and our history protect our freedom of religion, our freedom of thought, and our freedom of speech. Although Americans may differ greatly how we view the world, we strive to “discern those inner qualities” that make us all equal and all brothers and sisters.
Now, in honor of the late Mrs. King and her husband Martin Luther King, Jr. and in celebration of Black History Month, I would like to invite the children of the Martin Luther King Secondary School to lay a wreath to commemorate the values the Kings fought for—peace, justice and equality.
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