AMERICA WAS BUILT ON POSSIBILITY, NOT FEAR

On September 11, America remembers one of the darkest days in our history. We remember the innocent lives lost, the families forever changed, and the first responders and ordinary Americans who demonstrated extraordinary courage.

But September 11 should remind us of something else: Even during our darkest moments, America has found reasons to hope.

That is why I am concerned about the direction of our political conversation. Too much of American politics has become a competition over who can paint the darkest picture of our country.

Doom. Gloom. Anger. Fear. Division.

We hear constantly about what is wrong with America, whom we should blame and whom we should fear. But where is the vision of what America can become?

I believe Americans are hungry for something different.

My message is simple: Faith, Family & Opportunity.

I am encouraging the Democratic Party to embrace those three words because they speak not only to Democrats or Black voters. They speak to Americans across racial, religious, geographic and economic lines.

Faith means believing tomorrow can be better than today. For many Americans, including me, faith is rooted in our relationship with God. But faith in our civic life also means believing in our communities, our neighbors and America’s capacity to become better.

Family is where values are taught and dreams begin. Strong families help create strong neighborhoods, and strong neighborhoods create strong communities. Government cannot replace the family, but public policy can help create conditions in which families have the opportunity to prosper.

Then comes opportunity.

Opportunity is where America’s promises must become real.

It is not enough to tell a child that anything is possible if that child does not have access to a quality education. It is not enough to celebrate entrepreneurship if a small-business owner cannot obtain capital. And it is not enough to celebrate homeownership if working families cannot get access to mortgages or afford to remain in their neighborhoods.

For Black America in particular, the conversation cannot stop at affordability. We must also talk about accessibility—access to education, capital, homeownership, business ownership, good-paying careers and the tools necessary to build generational wealth.

I believe Democrats should become unmistakably the party of opportunity and ownership.

America’s diversity is not something we should fear. It is one of our greatest strengths. People of different races, religions, backgrounds and experiences have helped build this nation. Our challenge is ensuring that every American has a genuine opportunity to participate in its future.

Republicans and Democrats will continue to disagree about taxes, spending, government and social policy. That is democracy. But politics should be about more than telling Americans what they should fear.

The Democratic Party has an opportunity to present a different vision.

Don’t answer doom and gloom with more doom and gloom. Answer it with possibility.

Tell the young person that we want them to become an engineer, electrician, entrepreneur or homeowner.

Tell the mother working two jobs that economic growth should reach her household.

Tell the small-business owner that we want her business not simply to survive, but to grow.

And tell Americans who feel forgotten that they have a stake in America’s future.

Growing up in Detroit, my father taught me something that has stayed with me throughout my life: “Nobody is better than you.”

That wasn’t a message of entitlement. It was a message of possibility.

America needs that spirit again.

As we remember the Americans we lost on September 11, let us also remember an America that came together—neighbors helping neighbors and strangers helping strangers.

Our country does not need another generation defined by fear of one another.

We need faith in America’s future, families with the strength to prosper, and opportunities broad enough for every American willing to work for them.

Faith. Family. Opportunity.

That is more than a political slogan.

It is a vision of an America built on possibility, not fear.