Harris has criticized other efforts that seek to “erase or even rewrite” Black history in other recent speeches.
“Let us not be seduced into believing that somehow we will be better if we forget,” she said at the July 25 ceremony announcing the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley National Monument, which includes a Chicago church and two Mississippi sites. “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.”
Harris closed her speech of about 15 minutes to the AME women’s organization with another expression of confidence in the future.
“Let us fight with optimism, with faith and with hope,” she said, “because, as the history of our nation and the history of this church tells us, when we fight, we win.”
This article originally appeared here.
