Bill Clinton

“ We can teach our children that America's story has been written by men and women of every race and creed and ethnic background. And we can ensure that our laws, our actions, and our words honor the rights and dignity of every human being.
Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim February 2000 as National African American History Month. ”

“ We are awakened to such stories through the power, beauty, and unflinching witness of poets and writers like Maya Angelou, Gwendolyn Brooks, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker. We find them in the lives and voices of Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, Booker T. Washington, and others who, rising above slavery, brutality, and bigotry, became great American champions of liberty, equality, and dignity. ”

“ We can use this time of extraordinary prosperity and peace to widen the circle of opportunity in America, to recognize that our society's rich diversity is one of our greatest strengths, and to unite around the fundamental values that we all share as Americans. ”