A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

   FOR RELEASE                              Contact:  Kathryn Kahler    February 14, 1994                                  (202) 401-3026

STATEMENT BY U.S. SECRETARY OF EDUCATION RICHARD W. RILEY regarding Black History Month

The observance of Black History Month offers all Americans an important opportunity to learn more about the valuable contributions of African-Americans to the development of both our nation and the rich foundation of constitutional rights that are part of our democratic tradition.

From the heroic achievements of Ron McNair, the scientist and astronaut who gave his life for his country while pursuing the advancement of science, to the impassioned words of Maya Angelou and Toni Morrison, the contributions of African Americans to our nation and our quality of life should be obvious and important to all of us. It is a history that is especially impressive because it encompasses the experience of slavery and subjugation by a group of people that arrived on these shores not of their own accord.

Since those terrible times, we have moved toward equality and increased opportunities for all. Yet even today the language of segregation and inequality finds a forum, and is a divisive and regressive force in our nation. As the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. told us: "Through our scientific and technologic genius, we have made of this world a neighborhood, and yet we have not had the ethical commitment to make of it a brotherhood." Black History Month offers us the opportunity to renew our vigilance against this hatred and our efforts to live together as brothers and sisters.

Education provides the primary means to achieve an end to this type of intolerance and ignorance, as well as to provide expanded opportunity for all in our national community. Equal educational opportunity was a paramount goal of the civil rights movement from its inception; we should again place learning and increased educational achievement and opportunity at the forefront of our agenda for all people. Our children deserve no less.

As we pay tribute to the Black American heroes of yesterday, we should rededicate ourselves to improving today's society, and lay the groundwork for the children of this society to be the Black American heroes of tomorrow.

As the educator Dr. Benjamin E. Mays stated, it isn't a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream.

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