We are still breaking new ground, and blazing new trails. And the challenge to all Americans today is to make as much progress in our generation as was made by our parents and our grandparents. We thought, for instance, that when we won redress for the internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II, our country would have learned that it is wrong to judge and punish an entire ethnic group for actions that were taken by people in their country of origin. But when American hostages were taken in Iran, thousands of Iranian-Americans became the targets of hate and suspicion. And when the federal building in Oklahoma City was bombed, the instant urge was to go arrest an Arab-American.
Some lessons have to be taught many times before they are really learned.
But learning those lessons is becoming more urgent with every passing year. We know that in the coming century, America will become even more diverse, and that eventually, there will be no ethnic majority in our country. And that means that we need to work harder to strengthen the ties that bind America together, and to overcome the prejudices and misunderstandings that divide us. To live out the promises of those ideals, we urgently need to develop a strong national consensus that promotes the value of diversity and the practice of good citizenship and democracy. This is both incredibly complicated, and very simple.