Lamenting the disparity of blacks and whites in every aspect of society, he states, “The Proclamation of Inferiority has contended with the Proclamation of Emancipation, negating its liberating force.” The only way to commemorate the Emancipation Proclamation, he said, “is to make its declaration of freedom real; to reach back to the origins of our nation when our message of equality electrified an unfree world, and reaffirm democracy by deeds as bold and daring as the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation.”