Remarks at the Embassy Tolerance Video Competition Awards Ceremony

March 20, 2009

Berzensyi High School, Budapest

Jó napot kívánok! Nagyon örülök hogy itt lehetek!

Köszönöm szépen, Director Somogyi, for hosting today’s ceremony. For many years, Berzsenyi High School has been a great friend of the Embassy. Thank you for once again opening your doors to us.

Your school is well known for producing excellent students, who have gone on to achieve much success. My personal favorite is America’s beloved adopted son, the late Congressman Tom Lantos. Although he was born in Hungary, he fled to ensure his life and his freedom. He went on to become a US citizen, a US Congressman, and the Chairman of the powerful House Foreign Relations Committee. He fought tirelessly for human rights.

It is fitting that we are celebrating tolerance in the school where one of our generation’s greatest human rights champions once studied.

As I look around the audience, I see lots of different faces. Each of you brings a unique perspective into the room. It is always inspiring to me to see people from different backgrounds come together to embrace tolerance. In so doing, we honor our common bonds of humanity.

These are the bonds that bridge our differences and unite us as a people. They are bonds that respect our diversity. They are based on mutual understanding. They represent countless triumphs over discrimination and prejudice. And they are the bonds that create the foundation upon which equality and justice for all can thrive.

As we gather together this afternoon, the bonds that unite us are under siege.

We have all become too familiar with the recent attacks on Roma, Jewish, and gay and lesbian communities across Hungary. Despicable acts of violence have injured or killed scores of innocent people. Innocent people became targets simply because of who their parents were or what they believed in. These acts of hatred have chipped away at the fragile bonds that unite us.

We Americans cannot look at such attacks without recalling our own ongoing struggle. For generations, many Americans did not enjoy the freedom and equality our Constitution is in place to protect. Even today, protecting the constitutional rights of every citizen requires constant vigilance.

We, too, know the pain of hatred. We know the high price of intolerance. But we also know that discrimination and intolerance can be overcome when people of all backgrounds come together in support of this common goal.

The quest for equality is not just for those people of a different ethnic background or with different beliefs. Rather it is, as President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, “for all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice.”

Equality for all cannot be the goal of some. If it is to prevail, it must be the goal of everyone. The United States will continue to stand by those who are victims of hatred and intolerance. And we will continue to stand with all Hungarians who are committed to the struggle for equality. Equality is a goal worth struggling to attain, however long that takes.

In this auditorium I see so many young people who represent the future of Hungary. Let me take a moment to speak directly to you.

Students, you hold in your hands the promise of your country’s future. As future voters, future workers, future leaders, Hungary’s future depends entirely on the direction you choose.

I urge you to embrace tolerance, to live in harmony with your neighbors, and to avoid judging others based their ethnic background, what they look like, or their religious beliefs.

And I ask you to share this message of tolerance with everyone you know. Each of you must take the personal responsibility to live your lives by example, so others will follow your lead.

Köszönöm megtisztelő figyelmüket.