Fannie Mae can do a lot, we should do a lot, and we will do a lot. But no one company can do what needs to be done alone. We are challenging the public and private sectors to set a national goal of creating five million new minority homeowners before this decade is over, and to join with us to meet that goal. We appreciate your support, and we will ask for more. Because just as Dr. DuBois and Dr. Bethune faced their opposition, so too does the effort to do what needs to be done to completely break the color line in homeownership.
Progress never comes easy and the home stretch is the hardest.
But Dr. Bethune's call to action a half century ago should push us onward. We must gain full equality in education, in the franchise, in economic opportunity, and full equality in the abundance of life. An abundant life includes a home of your own. In the name of Dr. DuBois and Dr. Bethune, we will continue to break the color line of homeownership. And in the name of all the families who are seeking, struggling and saving for the American Dream, let me accept this honor this evening.