Remarks

American Thursday

American Center Library

February 17, 2005

Good afternoon and thank you very much for coming.  Welcome to the American Center.

Dr. Condoleezza Rice said in her confirmation hearing, “The time for diplomacy is now.”  Here at the U.S. Embassy, we couldn’t agree more, and today we are proud to launch a new program: American Thursdays.  Diplomats from the U.S. Embassy will speak to the public on a variety of topics: immigrant culture in the U.S., music, sports and film in the U.S., the civil rights movement.  We want this to be a high profile, thought-provoking program that engages audiences in dialogue, and you are invited.

It’s important for friends like the U.S. and Bangladesh to know each other well, and programs like American Thursdays, our student exchanges, and our cultural programs highlight this friendship.  For example, four students from Bangladesh were recently awarded State Department scholarships to attend university in the United States.  When these students go to the U.S., they will teach Americans as much about Bangladesh as Americans will teach them about life in the U.S. 

Bangladesh and the U.S. have a long relationship and a great deal in common.  This week some of you may have met Councilman Shahab Ahmed, who is visiting us from Hamtramck, Michigan.  He is the first Bangladeshi-American elected to public office in the United States, and has spoken on the importance of listening to all voices in the community.  He works hard to ensure that everyone in his town – be they Polish, Bosnian, Indian, African-American or Bangladeshi – has access to the democratic process.  Both of our societies value this very highly: the right of all citizens to participate in their government’s decisions and to speak freely about their ideas.  In fact, Dr. Rice called this the “town square test”: “if a person cannot walk into the middle of the town square and express his or her views without fear of arrest, imprisonment and physical harm, then that person is living in a fear society.” 

Dr. Rice, of course, experienced such a society firsthand – as a child during the civil rights movement; she lived at a time of racial violence and segregation, church bombings and voter intimidation.  She said,  “Yet there was another Birmingham, the city where my parents … and their friends built a thriving community in the midst of terrible segregation.  It would have been so easy for them to give in to despair and to send that message of hopelessness to their children.  But they refused to allow the limits and injustices of their time to limit our horizons.” During Black History Month, it’s important to recognize and salute that transcendent power.

I hope that Bangladesh will never allow the forces of fear to take over.  We are fortunate that Bangladesh has many information sources and even more fortunate that the press is vibrant and energetic, that the public can easily access information from the country’s many newspapers.  All of these things contribute to the health and growth of democracy.  Information is the oxygen for the lifeblood of democracy.  If that oxygen is shut off, democracy withers and dies.  Everyone in society must be vigilant to make sure this never happens.  I see a number of journalists in the audience, and I commend you for your desire to report the truth. 

Dr. Rice described the civil rights movement as “a story of the triumph of universal human values over adversity.” These are values our countries share: the transformative power of education, the drive for a better future for our children, the strong reliance on the family and community to help in times of crisis.  Like Dr. Rice, I too am indebted to the leaders of the civil rights movement, and to parents who believed their children could succeed against heavy odds.  I’m proud to be here representing the U.S. in Bangladesh.

A place where bombs bloody young people as they celebrate a holiday is not my vision of Bangladesh’s future.  A country where reporters are harassed and intimidated, where political factions target the innocent, where corruption cripples initiative – that is not my vision of this country in the future.  I do no believe that this is your vision either.   

I want a better future for the United States and for Bangladesh; I want our friendship to only grow stronger.  But success depends on a commitment from both sides.  We say again that we steadfastly support Bangladesh’s democracy and urge everyone here to pursue their political objectives and their search for justice in a peaceful and lawful manner.  We in the American Embassy wish you all a joyous Ekushey Day.  Kobe Guruu’r bhasha-ay Amar Shonar Bangla Ami Tom-eye Bhalobhosi 

Thanks for your attention.   I’ll be happy to take some questions.

    

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Note:  A Bangla translation of this article is also available from The American Center.  If you are interested in the translation, please call The American Center Press Section (Tel: 8813440-4, Fax: 9881677; e-mail: DhakaPA@state.gov; Website: dhaka.usembassy.gov)