00:00 The President: Giving all praise and honor to God. 00:03 (applause) 00:10 The Bible calls us to hope. 00:16 To persevere, and have faith in things not seen. 00:26 "They were still living by faith when they died," 00:30 Scripture tells us. 00:36 "They did not receive the things promised; they only 00:41 saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting 00:48 that they were foreigners and strangers on Earth." 00:55 We are here today to remember a man of God who 00:58 lived by faith. 01:02 A man who believed in things not seen. 01:07 A man who believed there were better days ahead, 01:12 off in the distance. 01:15 A man of service who persevered, knowing full 01:20 well he would not receive all those things he was 01:23 promised, because he believed his efforts would 01:27 deliver a better life for those who followed. 01:35 To Jennifer, his beloved wife; to Eliana and Malana, 01:40 his beautiful, wonderful daughters; to the Mother 01:48 Emanuel family and the people of Charleston, the 01:54 people of South Carolina. 01:59 I cannot claim to have the good fortune to know 02:04 Reverend Pinckney well. 02:07 But I did have the pleasure of knowing him and meeting 02:11 him here in South Carolina, back when we were both a 02:16 little bit younger. 02:17 (laughter) 02:19 Back when I didn't have visible grey hair. 02:23 (laughter) 02:25 The first thing I noticed was his graciousness, 02:32 his smile, his reassuring baritone, his 02:38 deceptive sense of humor -- all qualities that helped 02:43 him wear so effortlessly a heavy burden of expectation. 02:50 Friends of his remarked this week that when Clementa 02:53 Pinckney entered a room, it was like the future arrived; 02:59 that even from a young age, folks knew he was special. 03:05 Anointed. 03:08 He was the progeny of a long line of the faithful -- a 03:13 family of preachers who spread God's word, a family 03:17 of protesters who sowed change to expand voting 03:21 rights and desegregate the South. 03:27 Clem heard their instruction, and he did not 03:30 forsake their teaching. 03:31 He was in the pulpit by 13, pastor by 18, 03:38 public servant by 23. 03:42 He did not exhibit any of the cockiness of youth, nor 03:47 youth's insecurities; instead, he set an example 03:53 worthy of his position, wise beyond his years, in his 03:59 speech, in his conduct, in his love, faith, and purity. 04:09 As a senator, he represented a sprawling swath of the 04:14 Lowcountry, a place that has long been one of the most 04:18 neglected in America. 04:22 A place still wracked by poverty and inadequate 04:26 schools; a place where children can still go hungry 04:32 and the sick can go without treatment. 04:37 A place that needed somebody like Clem. 04:41 (applause) 04:48 His position in the minority party meant the 04:51 odds of winning more resources for his 04:54 constituents were often long. 05:00 His calls for greater equity were too often unheeded, the 05:06 votes he cast were sometimes lonely. 05:12 But he never gave up. 05:16 He stayed true to his convictions. 05:20 He would not grow discouraged. 05:24 After a full day at the capitol, he'd climb into his 05:27 car and head to the church to draw sustenance from his 05:32 family, from his ministry, from the community that 05:39 loved and needed him. 05:43 There he would fortify his faith, 05:46 and imagine what might be. 05:52 Reverend Pinckney embodied a politics that was neither 05:55 mean, nor small. 05:58 He conducted himself quietly, and kindly, 06:03 and diligently. 06:06 He encouraged progress not by pushing his ideas alone, 06:10 but by seeking out your ideas, partnering with you 06:16 to make things happen. 06:20 He was full of empathy and fellow feeling, able to walk 06:25 in somebody else's shoes and see through their eyes. 06:30 No wonder one of his senate colleagues remembered 06:32 Senator Pinckney as "the most gentle of the 46 of us 06:38 -- the best of the 46 of us." 06:46 Clem was often asked why he chose to be a pastor 06:52 and a public servant. 06:57 But the person who asked probably didn't know the 07:00 history of the AME church. 07:02 (applause) 07:09 As our brothers and sisters in the AME 07:12 church know, we don't make those distinctions. 07:19 "Our calling," Clem once said, "is not just within 07:22 the walls of the congregation, but...the life 07:26 and community in which our congregation resides." 07:30 (applause) 07:33 He embodied the idea that our Christian 07:38 faith demands deeds and not just words; that the "sweet 07:43 hour of prayer" actually lasts the whole week long -- 07:48 (applause) 07:49 -- that to put our faith in action is more 07:52 than individual salvation, it's about our collective 07:56 salvation; that to feed the hungry and clothe the naked 08:02 and house the homeless is not just a call for isolated 08:09 charity but the imperative of a just society. 08:12 What a good man. 08:22 Sometimes I think that's the best thing to hope for when 08:30 you're eulogized -- after all the words and 08:38 recitations and resumes are read, to just say someone 08:44 was a good man. 08:45 (applause) 08:57 You don't have to be of high station to be 08:59 a good man. 09:03 Preacher by 13. 09:05 Pastor by 18. 09:08 Public servant by 23. 09:12 What a life Clementa Pinckney lived. 09:17 What an example he set. 09:20 What a model for his faith. 09:26 And then to lose him at 41 -- slain in his sanctuary 09:35 with eight wonderful members of his flock, each at 09:41 different stages in life but bound together by a common 09:45 commitment to God. 09:48 Cynthia Hurd. 09:51 Susie Jackson. 09:53 Ethel Lance. 09:55 DePayne Middleton-Doctor. 09:59 Tywanza Sanders. 10:02 Daniel L. 10:03 Simmons. 10:06 Sharonda Coleman-Singleton. 10:10 Myra Thompson. 10:14 Good people. 10:18 Decent people. 10:22 God-fearing people. 10:24 (applause) 10:34 People so full of life and so full of kindness. 10:41 People who ran the race, who persevered. 10:46 People of great faith. 10:52 To the families of the fallen, the nation shares 10:55 in your grief. 11:00 Our pain cuts that much deeper because it happened 11:02 in a church. 11:07 The church is and always has been the center of 11:12 African-American life -- 11:15 (applause) 11:19 -- a place to call our own in a too 11:23 often hostile world, a sanctuary 11:28 from so many hardships. 11:32 Over the course of centuries, black churches 11:35 served as "hush harbors" where slaves could worship 11:39 in safety; praise houses where their free descendants 11:46 could gather and shout hallelujah -- 11:49 (applause) 11:50 -- rest stops for the weary along the Underground 11:56 Railroad; bunkers for the foot soldiers of the 12:00 Civil Rights Movement. 12:01 They have been, and continue to be, community centers 12:08 where we organize for jobs and justice; places of 12:13 scholarship and network; places where children are 12:18 loved and fed and kept out of harm's way, and told that 12:24 they are beautiful and smart -- 12:26 (applause) 12:27 -- and taught that they matter. 12:29 (applause) 12:30 That's what happens in church. 12:34 That's what the black church means. 12:40 Our beating heart. 12:43 The place where our dignity as a people is inviolate. 12:48 When there's no better example of this tradition 12:54 than Mother Emanuel -- 12:56 (applause) 12:58 -- a church built 13:01 by blacks seeking liberty, burned to the ground because 13:08 its founder sought to end slavery, only to rise up 13:11 again, a Phoenix from these ashes. 13:14 (applause) 13:21 When there were laws banning all-black 13:23 church gatherings, services happened here anyway, in 13:28 defiance of unjust laws. 13:31 When there was a righteous movement to dismantle Jim 13:34 Crow, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. preached from its 13:39 pulpit, and marches began from its steps. 13:45 A sacred place, this church. 13:47 Not just for blacks, not just for Christians, but for 13:53 every American who cares about the steady expansion -- 13:56 (applause) 13:57 -- of human rights and human dignity in this country; 14:00 a foundation stone for liberty and justice for all. 14:11 That's what the church meant. 14:31 (applause) 14:36 We do not know whether the killer of Reverend Pinckney 14:41 and eight others knew all of this history. 14:48 But he surely sensed the meaning of his violent act. 14:54 It was an act that drew on a long history of bombs and 14:59 arson and shots fired at churches, not random, but as 15:08 a means of control, a way to terrorize and oppress. 15:14 (applause) 15:20 An act that he imagined would incite fear 15:30 and recrimination; violence and suspicion. 15:36 An act that he presumed would deepen divisions that 15:41 trace back to our nation's original sin. 15:48 Oh, but God works in mysterious ways. 15:52 (applause) 16:01 God has different ideas. 16:03 (applause) 16:09 He didn't know he was being used by God. 16:12 (applause) 16:22 Blinded by hatred, the alleged killer 16:25 could not see the grace surrounding Reverend Pinckney 16:30 and that Bible study group -- the light of 16:33 love that shone as they opened the church doors and 16:37 invited a stranger to join in their prayer circle. 16:44 The alleged killer could have never anticipated the 16:48 way the families of the fallen would respond when 16:50 they saw him in court -- in the midst of unspeakable 16:53 grief, with words of forgiveness. 16:56 He couldn't imagine that. 16:58 (applause) 17:11 The alleged killer could not imagine how 17:13 the city of Charleston, under the good and wise 17:16 leadership of Mayor Riley -- 17:21 (applause) 17:22 -- how the state of South Carolina, how the United States 17:25 of America would respond -- not merely with revulsion at 17:29 his evil act, but with big-hearted generosity and, 17:34 more importantly, with a thoughtful introspection and 17:39 self-examination that we so rarely see in public life. 17:48 Blinded by hatred, he failed to comprehend what 17:58 Reverend Pinckney so well understood 17:59 -- the power of God's grace. 18:00 (applause) 18:10 This whole week, I've been reflecting on this 18:12 idea of grace. 18:15 (applause) 18:19 The grace of the families who lost loved ones. 18:27 The grace that Reverend Pinckney would preach about 18:32 in his sermons. 18:33 The grace described in one of my favorite hymnals -- 18:39 the one we all know: Amazing grace, how sweet the sound 18:47 that saved a wretch like me. 18:51 (applause) 18:54 I once was lost, but now I'm found; was blind 19:00 but now I see. 19:04 (applause) 19:21 According to the Christian tradition, 19:27 grace is not earned. 19:34 Grace is not merited. 19:35 It's not something we deserve. 19:42 Rather, grace is the free and benevolent favor of God -- 19:47 (applause) 19:52 -- as manifested in the salvation 19:54 of sinners and the bestowal of blessings. 19:58 Grace. 19:59 As a nation, out of this terrible tragedy, God has 20:12 visited grace upon us, for he has allowed us to see 20:19 where we've been blind. 20:21 (applause) 20:28 He has given us the chance, where we've been 20:31 lost, to find our best selves. 20:33 (applause) 20:35 We may not have earned it, this grace, with 20:38 our rancor and complacency, and short-sightedness and 20:44 fear of each other -- but we got it all the same. 20:47 He gave it to us anyway. 20:48 He's once more given us grace. 20:49 But it is up to us now to make the most of it, to 21:01 receive it with gratitude, and to prove ourselves 21:05 worthy of this gift. 21:10 For too long, we were blind to the pain that the 21:14 Confederate flag stirred in too many of our citizens. 21:16 (applause) 21:17 It's true, a flag did not cause these murders. 21:33 But as people from all walks of life, Republicans and 21:37 Democrats, now acknowledge -- including Governor Haley, 21:42 whose recent eloquence on the subject is worthy of praise -- 21:45 (applause) 21:51 -- as we all have to acknowledge, 21:53 the flag has always represented more than just 21:56 ancestral pride. 21:58 (applause) 22:21 For many, black and white, that flag was a 22:27 reminder of systemic oppression and racial 22:33 subjugation. 22:37 We see that now. 22:41 Removing the flag from this state's capitol would not be 22:45 an act of political correctness; it would not be 22:49 an insult to the valor of Confederate soldiers. 22:52 It would simply be an acknowledgment that the 22:58 cause for which they fought -- the cause of slavery -- 23:02 was wrong -- 23:04 (applause) 23:16 -- the imposition of Jim Crow 23:24 after the Civil War, the resistance to civil rights 23:33 for all people was wrong. 23:36 (applause) 23:40 It would be one step in an honest accounting 23:46 for so many unhealed wounds. 23:58 It would be an expression of the amazing changes that 24:02 have transformed this state and this country for the 24:05 better, because of the work of so many people of 24:09 goodwill, people of all races striving to form a 24:13 more perfect union. 24:17 By taking down that flag, we express God's grace. 24:21 (applause) 24:32 But I don't think God wants us to stop there. 24:34 (applause) 24:43 For too long, we've been blind to the way past 24:45 injustices continue to shape the present. 24:51 Perhaps we see that now. 24:55 Perhaps this tragedy causes us to ask some tough 24:58 questions about how we can permit so many of our 25:02 children to languish in poverty, or attend 25:06 dilapidated schools, or grow up without prospects for a 25:10 job or for a career. 25:13 (applause) 25:14 Perhaps it causes us to examine what we're 25:16 doing to cause some of our children to hate. 25:18 (applause) 25:28 Perhaps it softens hearts towards those 25:32 lost young men, tens and tens of thousands caught up 25:37 in the criminal justice system -- 25:39 (applause) 25:40 -- and leads us to make sure that 25:42 that system is not infected 25:43 with bias; that we embrace changes in how we train and 25:48 equip our police so that the bonds of trust between law 25:51 enforcement and the communities they serve make 25:55 us all safer and more secure. 26:00 (applause) 26:01 Maybe we now realize the way racial bias 26:05 can infect us even when we don't realize it, so that 26:11 we're guarding against not just racial slurs, but we're 26:15 also guarding against the subtle impulse to call 26:18 Johnny back for a job interview but not Jamal. 26:21 (applause) 26:28 So that we search our hearts when we consider 26:44 laws to make it harder for some of our fellow citizens 26:48 to vote. 26:49 (applause) 26:57 By recognizing our common humanity by 27:01 treating every child as important, regardless of the 27:05 color of their skin or the station into which they were 27:09 born, and to do what's necessary to make 27:12 opportunity real for every American -- by doing that, 27:17 we express God's grace. 27:19 (applause) 27:39 For too long -- 27:40 Audience: For too long! 27:47 The President: For too long, we've been blind to the 27:49 unique mayhem that gun violence inflicts upon this nation. 27:54 (applause) 28:01 Sporadically, our eyes are open: When eight of 28:08 our brothers and sisters are cut down in a church 28:11 basement, 12 in a movie theater, 26 in an 28:16 elementary school. 28:22 But I hope we also see the 30 precious lives cut short 28:25 by gun violence in this country every single day; 28:31 the countless more whose lives are forever changed -- 28:35 the survivors crippled, the children traumatized and 28:39 fearful every day as they walk to school, the husband 28:44 who will never feel his wife's warm touch, the 28:49 entire communities whose grief overflows every time 28:54 they have to watch what happened to them happen to 28:57 some other place. 29:03 The vast majority of Americans -- the majority of 29:06 gun owners -- want to do something about this. 29:11 We see that now. 29:12 (applause) 29:16 And I'm convinced that by acknowledging the pain 29:19 and loss of others, even as we respect the 29:22 traditions and ways of life that make up this beloved 29:26 country -- by making the moral choice to change, we 29:32 express God's grace. 29:34 (applause) 29:45 We don't earn grace. 29:52 We're all sinners. 29:54 We don't deserve it. 29:55 (applause) 29:57 But God gives it to us anyway. 30:01 (applause) 30:02 And we choose how to receive it. 30:07 It's our decision how to honor it. 30:11 None of us can or should expect a transformation in 30:16 race relations overnight. 30:20 Every time something like this happens, somebody says 30:22 we have to have a conversation about race. 30:25 We talk a lot about race. 30:30 There's no shortcut. 30:31 And we don't need more talk. 30:34 (applause) 30:47 None of us should believe that a handful of gun 30:50 safety measures will prevent every tragedy. 30:52 It will not. 30:55 People of goodwill will continue to debate the 30:59 merits of various policies, as our democracy requires -- 31:06 this is a big, raucous place, America is. 31:09 And there are good people on both sides of these debates. 31:16 Whatever solutions we find will necessarily be 31:18 incomplete. 31:22 But it would be a betrayal of everything Reverend 31:25 Pinckney stood for, I believe, if we allowed 31:31 ourselves to slip into a comfortable silence again. 31:34 (applause) Once the eulogies have been delivered, once 31:41 the TV cameras move on, to go back to business as usual 31:51 -- that's what we so often do to avoid uncomfortable 31:59 truths about the prejudice that still infects our 32:01 society. 32:02 (applause) 32:04 To settle for symbolic gestures without 32:07 following up with the hard work of more lasting change 32:10 -- that's how we lose our way again. 32:16 It would be a refutation of the forgiveness expressed by 32:20 those families if we merely slipped into old habits, 32:26 whereby those who disagree with us are not merely wrong 32:29 but bad; where we shout instead of listen; where we 32:34 barricade ourselves behind preconceived notions or 32:39 well-practiced cynicism. 32:45 Reverend Pinckney once said, "Across the South, we have a 32:48 deep appreciation of history -- we haven't always had a 32:52 deep appreciation of each other's history." 32:54 (applause) 33:00 What is true in the South is true for America. 33:10 Clem understood that justice grows out of recognition of 33:17 ourselves in each other. 33:21 That my liberty depends on you being free, too. 33:24 (applause) 33:26 That history can't be a sword to justify 33:33 injustice, or a shield against progress, but must 33:39 be a manual for how to avoid repeating the mistakes of 33:43 the past -- how to break the cycle. 33:47 A roadway toward a better world. 33:53 He knew that the path of grace involves an open mind 34:01 -- but, more importantly, an open heart. 34:06 That's what I've felt this week -- an open heart. 34:12 That, more than any particular policy or 34:15 analysis, is what's called upon right now, I think -- 34:22 what a friend of mine, the writer Marilyn Robinson, 34:26 calls "that reservoir of goodness, beyond, and of 34:33 another kind, that we are able to do each other in the 34:38 ordinary cause of things." 34:41 That reservoir of goodness. 34:47 If we can find that grace, anything is possible. 34:50 (applause) 34:52 If we can tap that grace, everything can change. 34:56 (applause) 35:03 Amazing grace. 35:08 Amazing grace. 35:22 (sings) -- Amazing grace -- 35:28 (applause) 35:31 -- how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me; 35:52 I once was lost, but now I'm found; was blind but now I see. 36:25 (applause) 36:29 Clementa Pinckney found that grace. 36:34 Cynthia Hurd found that grace. 36:35 Susie Jackson found that grace. 36:38 Ethel Lance found that grace. 36:43 DePayne Middleton-Doctor found that grace. 36:46 Tywanza Sanders found that grace. 36:50 Daniel L. Simmons, Sr. found that grace. 36:53 Sharonda Coleman-Singleton found that grace. 36:56 Myra Thompson found that grace. 37:00 Through the example of their lives, they've now passed it 37:04 on to us. 37:06 May we find ourselves worthy of that precious and 37:11 extraordinary gift, as long as our lives endure. 37:17 May grace now lead them home. 37:21 May God continue to shed His grace on the United States 37:26 of America. 37:27 (applause)