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pe s2e - Thirteen years later, the Supreme Court put its stamp of approval on the practice of segregation. But again the vision of the American ideal was in a Harlan dissent. He saw that segregation “puts the brand of servitude and degradation upon a large class of our fellow citizens, our equals before the law.” He said that ‘the practice in the long run “gives no other result than to render permanent peace-impossible and to keep alive a conflict of races, the continuance of which mist do harm to all concerned." He said, “Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor toler- ates classes among citizens.*® = ‘ In our generation, that view is no longer expressed in dissent. It represents the view of the majority of our nation. We can see now, with the vision and clarity of Lincoln and Harlan, the toll exacted by discrimination wewhether overt Segregation or covert bigotry. And when ¢ we talk about the human rights guaranteed by the Constitution, we must talk about both segregation and bigotry, whether in the North or in the South. Lincoln said, "The North responds to the proclamation sufficiently in breath.” There is a very great need for the North to respond to the dep- rivation of rights in action as well. Our effort cannot be directed only against open discrimination in one area, while ignoring the real deprivation of opportunity caused by indirect discrimination in another. As President Kennedy said just three weeks ago: "The Negro, ‘baby born in America today--regardless of the section or state in which he is born--has about one-half as much chance of completing high school as a white baby born in the same place on the same day--one-third as much chance of completing college--one-third as much chance of becoming a professional man--twice as much change of becoming unemployed--about one- seventh as much chance of earning $10,000 per year--a life expectancy which is seven years less--and the prospects of earning only half as much." Lincoln described the Signing of the Emancipation Proclamation as the central act of his administration and “the great event of the Nineteenth Century." Today, we can maintain that America's present accelerating effort toward the fullfillment of Lincoln's central act is the great event of our century. We have come to the. time in our history to show the world and ourselves --what our ideals mean in practice: that Americans are generous, not merely affluent; that we are concerned with character, not with color; that, in Lincoln's words about his proclamation we seek progress: “not in anger, but in expectation of a greater good." ‘We have a-lot to do. With your help--with the help of Americans of vision and goodwill everywhere--I believe and I pray that we will do 50. Kentucky, the mother of Lincoln and of Harlan, will be, under the leadership of Governor Combs, in the front ranks of the forward march. rly 227 513 FT BS = wwe SR ee AD.