February 11

The Negro says, “Now.” Others say, “Never.” The voice of responsible Americans… says, “Together.” There is no other way.

Lyndon B. Johnson, 36^th President, 1963-1969

- Remarks of Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, Memorial Day, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, May 30, 1963 Johnson, as Vice-President, is largely silent in the Kennedy Administration. Amid the racial and civil strife of 1963, he takes the opportunity to make these positive comments. "...As we maintain the vigil of peace, we must remember that justice is a vigil, too--a vigil we must keep in our own streets and schools and among the lives of all our people--so that those who died here on their native soil shall not have died in vain. One hundred years ago, the slave was freed. One hundred years later, the Negro remains in bondage to the color of his skin. The Negro today asks justice. We do not answer him--we do not answer those who lie beneath this soil--when we reply to the Negro by asking, "Patience." It is empty to plead that the solution to the dilemmas of the present rests on the hands of the clock. The solution is in our hands...If it is empty to ask Negro or white for patience, it is not empty--it is merely honest--to ask perseverance. Men may build barricades--and others may hurl themselves against those barricades--but what would happen at the barricades would yield no answers. The answers will only be wrought by our perseverance together. It is deceit to promise more as it would be cowardice to demand less. In this hour, it is not our respective races which are at stake--it is our nation. Let those who care for their country come forward, North and South, white and Negro, to lead the way through this moment of challenge and decision. The Negro says, "Now." Others say, "Never." The voice of responsible Americans--the voice of those who died here and the great man who spoke here--their voices say, "Together." There is no other way.