Remarks by President Biden and Vice President Harris at Signing of the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument Proclamation

Statement

Good afternoon, everyone. Please have seat. Good afternoon.

To our President, Joe Biden; members of Congress; the members of the Till family; and my fellow Americans: Today, we gather to remember our history.

We gather to remember an act of astonishing violence and hate and to honor the courage of those who called upon on our nation to look with open eyes at that horror and to act.

The story of Emmett Till and the incredible bravery of Mamie Till-Mobley helped fuel the movement for civil rights in America, and their stories continue to inspire our collective fight for justice.

When I served in the United States Senate, I was so profoundly honored to sponsor the Emmett Till Antilynching Act alongside Congressman Bobby Rush. And it was an even greater honor to stand beside our President, Joe Biden, as he signed the law that finally made lynching a federal crime.

So many leaders here today made that progress possible.

Our history as a nation is born of tragedy and triumph, of struggle and success. That is who we are. And as people who love our country, as patriots, we know that we must remember and teach our full history, even when it is painful -- especially when it is painful.

Today, there are those in our nation who would prefer to erase or even rewrite the ugly parts of our past; those who attempt to teach that enslaved people benefitted from slavery; those who insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, who try to divide our nation with unnecessary debates.

Let us not be seduced into believing that somehow we will be better if we forget. We will be better if we remember. We will be stronger if we remember.

Because we all here know: It is only by understanding and learning from our past that we can continue to work together to build a better future.

And so, now it is my great honor to introduce a leader who has dedicated his life to preserving and protecting our history. And Reverend Wheeler Parker, Jr., just also shared with me that he and his wife will be celebrating this weekend their fifty- --

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