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I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in ‘We, the people.’

Barbara Jordan

“We, the people.” It is a very elegant beginning. But when that document was completed on the 17th of September in 1787, I was not included in that “We, the people.”
BARBARA JORDAN

Documents People September
Life is too large to hang out a sign: ‘For Men Only.
BARBARA JORDAN

Hanging Life Men Out
Our concept of governing is derived from our view of people. It is a concept deeply rooted in a set of beliefs firmly etched in the national conscience, of all of us.
BARBARA JORDAN

Belief People View
Today, I am an inquisitor. I shall not sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.
BARBARA JORDAN

Constitution Democracy Today
I get from the soil and spirit of Texas the feeling that I, as an individual, can accomplish whatever I want to, and that there are no limits, that you can just keep going, just keep soaring. I like that spirit.
BARBARA JORDAN

Feelings Texas Want
We are a people in a quandary about the present. We are a people in search of our future. We are a people in search of a national community.
BARBARA JORDAN

Community Our Future People
The Supreme Court has always been the last bastion of the protection of our freedoms.
BARBARA JORDAN

Court Lasts Protection
The stakes … are too high for government to be a spectator sport.
BARBARA JORDAN

Government Sports Stakes
I have confidence that we can form this kind of national community.
BARBARA JORDAN

Community Form Kind
We can certainly defuse the intensity of the anti-immigrant feeling if we can bring some reality to the discussion by showing that they are not using that many resources.
BARBARA JORDAN

Feelings Immigration Reality
Let’s all understand that these guiding principles cannot be discarded for short-term political gains. They represent what this country is all about. They are indigenous to the American idea. And these are principles which are not negotiable.
BARBARA JORDAN

Country Guiding Principles Ideas
I never wanted to be run of the mill.
BARBARA JORDAN

Mills Running Wanted
We want to be in control of our lives. Whether we are jungle fighters, craftsmen, company men, gamesmen, we want to be in control. And when the government erodes that control, we are not comfortable.
BARBARA JORDAN

Erode Men Want
In other times, I could stand here and give this kind of exposition on the beliefs of the Democratic Party and that would be enough. But today that is not enough. People want more.
BARBARA JORDAN

Giving Party People
I never intended to be a run-of-the-mill person.
BARBARA JORDAN

Mills Persons Running
One thing is very clear: Illegal immigrants are not entitled to benefits.
BARBARA JORDAN

Benefits Illegal Immigration
But this is the great danger America faces. That we will cease to be one nation and become instead a collection of interest groups: city against suburb, region against region, individual against individual. Each seeking to satisfy private wants.
BARBARA JORDAN

America Cities Groups
Even as I stand here and admit that we have made mistakes I still believe that as the people of America sit in judgment on each party, they will recognize that our mistakes were mistakes of the heart. They’ll recognize that.
BARBARA JORDAN

Believe Mistake Party
We are a people trying not only to solve the problems of the present: unemployment, inflation… but we are attempting on a larger scale to fulfill the promise of America.
BARBARA JORDAN

Attempt Country People Promise
We believe that the people are the source of all governmental power; that the authority of the people is to be extended, not restricted.
BARBARA JORDAN

Authority Believe People
[It is] one of the most complex and emotional issues of out time.
BARBARA JORDAN

Emotional Immigration Issues
I have faith in young people because I know the strongest emotions which prevail are those of love and caring and belief and tolerance.
BARBARA JORDAN

Caring People Teaching
If the society today allows wrongs to go unchallenged, the impression is created that those wrongs have the approval of the majority.
BARBARA JORDAN

Majority Peace Ubuntu
The majority of the American people still believe that every single individual in this country is entitled to just as much respect, just as much dignity, as every other individual.
BARBARA JORDAN

Believe Country People
If we promise as public officials, we must deliver. If we as public officials propose, we must produce.
BARBARA JORDAN

Politics Produce Promise
We must not become the new puritans and reject our society. We must address and master the future together. It can be done if we restore the belief that we share a sense of national community, that we share a common national endeavor. It can be done.
BARBARA JORDAN

Community Done Together
I live a day at a time. Each day I look for a kernel of excitement. In the morning, I say: ‘What is my exciting thing for today?’ Then, I do the day. Don’t ask me about tomorrow.
BARBARA JORDAN

Life Morning Motivational

I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in ‘We, the people.’

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I felt somehow for many years that George Washington and Alexander Hamilton just left me out by mistake. But through the process of amendment, interpretation, and court decision, I have finally been included in ‘We, the people.’

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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