So it was last week and sell my Alabama.

There, long-suffering men and women peacefully protested the denial of their rights as Americans.

Many were brutally assaulted.

One good man, a man of God, was killed.

There is no cause for pride in what has happened in Selma.

There is no cause for self-satisfaction and the long denial of equal rights of millions

of Americans.

What there is cause for hope and for faith in our democracy and what is happening here

tonight.

For the cries of pain and the hymns and protests of oppressed people have summoned into

convocation all the majesty of this great government, the government of the greatest nation

on earth.

Our mission is at once the oldest and the most basic of this country to right wrong, to

do justice, to serve man.

In our time we have come to live with the moments of great crisis.

Our lives have been marked with debate about great issues, issues of war and peace, issues

of prosperity and depression.

But rarely in any time does an issue lay bare the secret heart of America itself.

We are we met with a challenge, not to our growth or abundance or our welfare or our

security, but rather to the values and the purposes and the meaning of our beloved nation.

The issue of equal rights for American Negroes is such an issue.

And should we defeat every enemy and should we double our wealth and conquer the stars

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