Text of the Senate resolution: “Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding Boston’s celebration of the Little Rock Nine on the 50th anniversary of their courageous and selfless stand in the face of hatred, violence and intolerance.”

Professor Charles Ogletree, of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School read the following comments from Sen. Kerry:

Dear Friends,

You are gathered here — and Ted Kennedy and I today introduced our Resolution in the Senate — because fifty years ago nine teenagers believed that the right to an education was worth risking their lives for. The story of the Little Rock Nine is one of courage and conscience, selflessness and sacrifice. But it is also one whose ending has yet to be written.

Fifty years after the Little Rock Nine walked up the steps of Central High, flanked by armed U.S. soldiers as protection, there are still too many young people in this country being denied access to quality public education. The reasons why some children are being turned away from good schools haven’t changed enough in the years since Little Rock. For some people in this country, a little kid who looks different, who speaks differently, who comes from a different part of the world, who lives in a different part of the community and who believes in different things is something to fear.

We are here because the incredible teenagers who grew up into these incredible adults remind us that an 8-year old who wants to learn how to write his name is not our enemy. A 14-year old who wants to read Shakespeare and Steinbeck is not our enemy. A 17-year old with dreams of being the first in their family to attend college is not our enemy. No – fear is our enemy. Intolerance is our enemy. Hatred is our enemy. And the Little Rock Nine – a little bit older, a little bit grayer – fifty years later remind us still that hope can overcome fear, that understanding can defeat intolerance, and that love can wipe out hatred. Fifty years later, it is long overdue to say thank you for reminding us what courage really is.