Tuesday evening, Hillary was honored with the Ripple of Hope Award at
the Robert F. Kennedy Gala. Tony Bennett and Robert De Niro were also honored..
The event took place at the Hilton in New York City. Congratulations, Mme. Secretary!
On
December 16th, 2014, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights hosted its
annual Ripple of Hope Awards Dinner in New York. Former First Lady,
Senator from New York, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was
among the night's honorees. Below are her remarks from the evening.
Robert
F. Kennedy Human Rights is not only an ongoing institution that
represents a passion for justice and dignity, but it also continues to
challenge us. Just look at the record of what has been done: from
defending gay rights in Uganda to standing with the families of missing
students in Mexico, reducing infant mortality in Kenya, advocating for
the rights of farm workers here in the United States, this organization
is showing us what Robert Kennedy meant when he spoke of those
numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that send ripples of hope
out across the world.
And on a personal note, no one has done more
to advance this work than Ethel Kennedy. (Applause.) Last month, when
President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, he called
Ethel an emblem of enduring faith and enduring hope. And the truth of
those words is reflected in all the lives that Ethel has touched and all
the children and grandchildren who have continued to make her proud.
She
reminds us that, as Senator Ted Kennedy said – the senator who served
in the United States Senate, not the senator who’s going to be serving
in the Connecticut senate – (applause) – we’ll be looking for his
accomplishments as well, along with other Kennedys who have served, and
Representative Joe Kennedy, who I had the privilege of (inaudible) for
in the House of Representatives – but as Ted Kennedy said, “The work
goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall
never die.” And so, Ethel, thank you for everything you have done to
make that true. (Applause.)
I think it is obvious to us all that
we are meeting here tonight at a time when the lessons of Robert
Kennedy’s life and legacy are as urgent and relevant as ever. Like many
of you, I wonder what would he think if he could see us now. I think he
would celebrate the enormous progress we have made over the past half
century; the advance of democracy and human rights in many parts of the
world once locked in tyranny; the breakthroughs in health and science
and productivity, delivered by American innovation; and the great
strides we’ve made here at home to build a more just and inclusive
society. So in many ways, we have moved forward toward that more perfect
union that he dreamed of and worked for.
But what would Robert
Kennedy say about the fact that still today more than 16 million
children live in poverty in the richest nation on Earth? What would he
say about the fact that such a large portion of economic gains have gone
to such a small portion of our population? What would he say about the
fact that the progress we’ve made has not closed the wealth gap between
black and Hispanic families and white families, it’s actually grown
wider?
Or what would he say about the cruel reality that African
American men are still far more likely to be stopped and searched by
police, charged with crimes, and sentenced to longer prison terms; that a
third of all black men face the prospect of prison during their
lifetimes; and by some estimates, young black men are more than 20 times
more likely to be shot dead by a police officer than a young white man?
What would Robert Kennedy say to the thousands of Americans marching in
our streets, demanding justice for all, to the young people with their
eyes open and their hands up, to the mothers who’ve lost their sons?
What
would he say to all those who have lost trust in our government and our
other institutions, who shutter at images of excessive force, who read
reports about torture done in the name of our country, who see too many
representatives in Washington quick to protect a big bank from
regulation but slow to take action to help working families face an ever
greater pressure? What would Robert Kennedy say to us?
I’d like
to believe that he would remind us, as he did in that famous Ripple of
Hope speech, that in American there have often been wide and tragic gaps
between promise and performance, ideal and reality, and that the
calling of our country is to extend and enlarge the meaning and practice
of freedom to all of our people. That means dignity, that means
justice, that means prosperity that gives a child born in the hills of
Appalachia or the Mississippi Delta or the Rio Grande Valley the same
opportunities in life as my baby granddaughter.
Robert Kennedy was
a man of action and he would urge us to take hold of these challenges
to organize, to legislate, and yes, to vote. For those of us who admire
his legacy, that seems to be the charge: to narrow the gap between our
ideals and our reality. We can stand up together and say, yes, black
lives matter; yes, the government should serve and protect all of our
people; yes, our country is strongest when everyone has a fair shot at
the American dream, that inequality is not inevitable, that some of the
social disparities we see today may stem from the legacy of segregation
and discrimination, but we don’t have to perpetuate them, that some
economic disparities may stem from long-term trends in globalization and
automation, but we don’t have to give into them.
The choices we
make matter. Policies, politics, priorities matter. But values matter
even more. And it is possible. I believe Robert Kennedy would be telling
us to restore a sense of security and potential of families struggling,
worrying, disappointed, discouraged, revitalizing and re-stitching the
frayed fabric of American life, possible to keep us safe from terrorism
and reduce crime and violence without relying on torture abroad or
unnecessary force or excessive incarceration at home.
Robert
Kennedy was our nation’s chief law enforcement officer. He understood
everyone in every community benefited when there is respect for the law
and when everyone in every community is respected by the law. We know
that there are so many police officers every day inspiring trust and
confidence rather than fear and frustration, honorably doing their duty,
putting themselves on the line to save lives, not take them. We can
build on that. We can work to restore balance to our public life, our
economy, our criminal justice system.
There’s no doubt that at
home and abroad, America is at our best when our actions match our
values. Yes, the threat of terrorism is real and urgent. Scores of
children were just murdered in Pakistan; beheadings in the Middle East; a
siege in Sydney – these tragedies not only break hearts, but should
steel our resolve and underscore that our values are what set us apart
from our adversaries.
I am proud to have been a part of the Obama
administration that banned illegal renditions and brutal interrogation
practices, including torture. (Applause.) Today we need to say again in a
loud and clear voice that the United States should never condone or
practice torture anywhere in the world, not under any future
administration or in any future conflict. That should be absolutely
clear as a matter of both policy and law, including our international
treaty obligations. And if that requires new legislation, then Congress
should work with President Obama to quickly enact it. And it should not
be an issue of partisan politics. (Applause.)
We should never
forget the extraordinary service and sacrifice of all those intelligence
professionals who do keep us safe, including those patriots who
question these practices from the inside. This is an opportunity to
reaffirm the strength of the American character. For even when we must
contend against opponents with no respect for human rights or life,
remember what Senator McCain said the other day: The high standard to
which we hold ourselves isn’t about our enemies. It’s about us. It’s
about who we were, who we are, and who we aspire to be. (Applause.)
I
have no illusions that this is easy. Americans are understandably
frustrated by all the division and polarization that seems to block
progress at every turn, and it is easy to get discouraged. It’s also
easy to get angry, to lose sight of the common humanity that unites us
all.
Robert Kennedy was the privileged heir to a famous name, but
that never stopped him from finding humanity in everyone, from a single
mom in Bed-Stuy, to a steel worker in Buffalo, to a student in South
Africa. He had the great gift of seeing the world through their eyes,
imagining what it was like to walk in their shows.
I was so
honored to follow in Robert Kennedy’s footsteps in the United States
Senate, and his example was often on my mind. New Yorkers took a chance
on both of us, and I will always be grateful for that. (Applause.) And I
followed in his footsteps again in the summer of 2012, when I went to
South Africa. And of the places I went was the University of Cape Town
to deliver a speech, just as he had decades earlier that continues to
inspire today.
Before that speech, I stopped in for what turned
out to be my final visit to my friend, Nelson Mandela, at his home in
his ancestral village. We reminisced, and I thought about the
extraordinary excitement of being at his inauguration in 1994. It was a
time of political strife in our own country. I have to confess, my heart
had been hardened by all the partisan combat. But then at lunch, the
new president of the new South Africa, President Mandela, said something
that shook me from my head to my toes. He welcomed all the VIPs who
came from all over the world, that he was pleased they were there, and
then said this: “The three most important people to me here in this vast
assembly are three men who were my jailers on Robben Island.” Mandela
called them by name, and three middle-aged white men stood up. He
explained that despite everything that divided them, those men had seen
him as a fellow human being. They treated him with dignity and respect.
Mandela had later told me when he was finally released he knew he had a
choice to make – he could carry the bitterness and hatred of what had
been done to him in his heart forever and he would still be imprisoned,
or he could open his heart to reconciliation and become free.
Robert
Kennedy said much the same thing on that terrible night in 1968, when
Dr. King was killed. He spoke of his own loss, and he urged Americans to
reach for justice and compassion, rather than division and hatred,
quoting Aeschylus on the wisdom that comes through the awful grace of
God.
So at this moment in our country and, indeed, in the world,
let us again turn to the wisdom and the example of Robert Kennedy. It is
only in this spirit that we will be able to meet the perils and to
seize the possibilities of the 21st century. So thank you. Thank you all
for keeping the torch burning brightly and inspiring so many others to
keep sending out those ripples of hope. Thank you.
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