Those were President Bill Clinton’s words in his speech to survivors of the Columbine High School massacre. A month earlier, on April 20, 1999 (25 years ago today) two Columbine High School students had killed twelve of their fellow students and a teacher. After an hours-long standoff with a tepid police response, the two shooters committed suicide.“We know somehow that what happened to you has pierced the soul of America.”
Bill Clinton
A Speech About Values
Many subsequent post-massacre speeches and angry statements for and against gun control have filled the news. In contrast, Clinton focused on the United States of America’s moral focus. Maybe that is where we needed to focus all along. He asked his audience (his audience was not just the students and parents in front of him, but also the entire nation) to think about what is right and what is wrong, to look for ways to overcome darkness, to find ways to reconcile differences, to overcome grievances and to do the things that are right to do. Clinton talked about the future:
Maybe, as liberal speakers have often said, the problem is too many guns. In response, conservative speakers ask whether we need more good guys with guns. Neither approach will solve the problem, though, until we recognize what is right and what is wrong.
Joe Biden's Emotional Gun Control Plea: "Enough!"
“… a future where what we have in common is far more important than what divides us.”Clinton’s message speaks to us in 2024. In no other nation on earth, rich or poor, big or small, democratic, communist, or fascist, do mass school shootings occur with the horrible ferocity that has become commonplace in the United States. The satirical website The Onion comments after almost every school shooting that there is “‘No Way to Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens.”
Maybe, as liberal speakers have often said, the problem is too many guns. In response, conservative speakers ask whether we need more good guys with guns. Neither approach will solve the problem, though, until we recognize what is right and what is wrong.
Joe Biden's Emotional Gun Control Plea: "Enough!"
Wayne LaPierre's Speech Opposes Gun Control with a Dark Vision
That is why, in this brief speech’s key passage, Clinton talked about overcoming the “dark forces” that make people into murderers, as well as the forces in human society that prevent us from working together:
Yes, Clinton briefly mentioned that the nation needs to keep firearms out of dangerous peoples’ hands. That, however, was not his main point. His main point was for us to examine our morals.
Anywhere Could Become Columbine
Clinton’s Columbine speech was not, however, just about one school in Colorado. Clinton reminded his audience that:
That is why, in this brief speech’s key passage, Clinton talked about overcoming the “dark forces” that make people into murderers, as well as the forces in human society that prevent us from working together:
“These dark forces that take over people and make them murder are the extreme manifestation of fear and rage with which every human being has to do combat. The older you get, the more you’ll know that a great deal of life is the struggle against every person’s own smallness and fear and anger and a continuing effort not to blame other people for our own shortcomings or our fears.”All human beings, as Clinton reminded us, struggle with dark forces. Can we overcome the “smallness” of our thinking? Can we not recognize that fear leads to anger, but we can control our fear and anger?
Yes, Clinton briefly mentioned that the nation needs to keep firearms out of dangerous peoples’ hands. That, however, was not his main point. His main point was for us to examine our morals.
Clinton’s larger, moral context persuaded few people at the time, and would probably persuade fewer today. We cannot move forward with reasonable gun control until we understand our fear and anger. We cannot resolve school violence until we view education as something greater than getting good scores on computer-graded multiple-choice tests. A few generations ago, schools knew that part of their job was moral education: to teach tolerance, to make people aware of their history and culture, and to instill such all-American values as freedom of expression and religion. My intermediate school principal called our school campus “a plant,” as if the school were an industrial operation, rather than a cultural institution. I have not heard that bizarre term recently, but our nation has still not figured out what functions it wants schools to serve.
Anywhere Could Become Columbine
Clinton’s Columbine speech was not, however, just about one school in Colorado. Clinton reminded his audience that:
“We know if this can happen here, it can happen anywhere.”Indeed, Clinton remarked about the “fundamentally strong values and character” of the people of Jefferson County, Colorado. He was right about that! Yet, for that solid community, “Columbine” is forever engraved on American memory as a symbol of violence, social disorganization, and moral failure. Indeed, school massacres have become a nationwide affliction, as fear and anger continue to tear apart many of the United States’ seemingly most stable neighborhoods. When they happen, we say that they are “another Columbine.”
Any number of policies might help. Should we control gun ownership by people who are known to be dangerous? We might ask, how do teenagers build bombs in their parents’ garage, and no one notices? What about school bullying? Can we recognize mental health issues before they lead to disaster? Do we need better trained, more organized police? Progress on all those fronts continues to be slow, if not nil, twenty-five long years later.
Clinton’s Larger Purpose
Public speaking’s highest purpose is to awaken our moral sensibilities.
So, Clinton pointed out that before we can solve the detailed issues of policy, we must settle a more fundamental point. Clinton’s Columbine speech cried out for us to reflect. Clinton was right that the United States needs to determine what it stands for. Unfortunately, we seem to have wandered even farther from that determination than we were 25 years ago. Do we stand for each other, or do we want to destroy one another? Heaven help us.
by William D. Harpine
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Research note: Ceremonial speeches (the old term is epideictic speech) often talk about values, while subtly encouraging the audience to think of actions that fulfill their values. I have written about epideictic rhetoric a number of times; here is a free preprint of one of my papers on the topic. For more, click on “William D. Harpine’s Publications” at the link above.
Copyright © 2024, William D. Harpine
Image: National Archives, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
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