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This one's personal.

2
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I know what it's like
to have the government say,

3
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"We're going to kill you in the morning."

4
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I know what it's like
to leave a country on six hours' notice

5
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and land on someone's couch.

6
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Because of that, I wrote a book

7
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on why countries do well
and why they don't.

8
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Let me summarize 250 pages.

9
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Countries have to be compassionate,

10
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they have to be kind,

11
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they have to be smart,
they have to be brave.

12
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Want to know what doesn't work?

13
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When you govern through fear
and you govern through cruelty,

14
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it just doesn't work.

15
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You can play Genghis Khan for a while,

16
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you can play Stalin for a while,

17
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you can play Pinochet for a while.

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It does not work in the long run.

19
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And it doesn't work in the long run

20
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because to govern
through fear and cruelty,

21
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you have to create a division.

22
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You have to take big chunks
of the country and convince them

23
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that they're not like them.

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That they shouldn't associate with them,

25
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they shouldn't talk to them.

26
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That those people are nasty,

27
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those people are criminals,
those people are rapists.

28
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And the country is in danger
because of them.

29
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And if you spend millions of dollars
doing that in your country,

30
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you will make enemies abroad,

31
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and you will create divisions within.

32
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And that has consequences.

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Three quarters of the flags
and the borders and the anthems

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around the United Nations today,

35
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they were not there a few decades ago.

36
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Those lines that are there today,

37
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those flags were created
because somebody said,

38
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"the Scotts are not like us,"

39
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"the Welsh are not like us,"

40
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"the Basques are not like us,"

41
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"the northern Italians are not like us,"

42
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"the Muslims are not like us,"

43
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the blacks, the whites, the Christians.

44
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You create "us versus them" ...

45
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you destroy nations.

46
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Part of the problem
from creating us versus them

47
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is it's hard to do.

48
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What you have to do

49
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is you have to make people
believe absurdities.

50
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And once people believe absurdities,

51
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then they start to commit atrocities.

52
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That's the dynamic of this thing.

53
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You can't create "us versus them" --

54
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you can't have the massacres
you had in Rwanda,

55
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you can't have the massacres
you had in Yugoslavia --

56
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unless if you create this dynamic.

57
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Let me summarize
current immigration policy.

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Let's deter "Them"

59
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by being as cruel as we can possibly be,

60
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and let's target their children.

61
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They are going after the children.

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You have US lawyers arguing
that kids do not need

63
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soap or hugs or showers,

64
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adult help or a release date.

65
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Somebody gets pulled over
for a broken tail light,

66
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who's worked here for 20 years,

67
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gets thrown into jail,

68
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maybe for life,

69
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with no legal representation.

70
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The terrorists that blew up
the World Trade Center get lawyers.

71
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These kids, these parents,
they don't get lawyers.

72
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Governments are telling

73
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some of the most desperate,
hurt people on earth,

74
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"I took your child, pay me 800 dollars
for a DNA test before you get it back."

75
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Three-year-olds are appearing in court.

76
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Look, we've all watched these
courtroom dramas.

77
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And it's exciting,

78
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because the wise judge sits up there,

79
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and the defense lawyer attacks

80
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and the prosecutor counterattacks,

81
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and then you figure out
how it's going to happen.

82
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I want you to understand
what is happening right now.

83
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Prosecutor's there --
it's the tough prosecutor.

84
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Accusing, attacking,
on behalf of we the people.

85
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The judge is up there, Judge Muckety-muck,

86
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with his black robes,

87
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and he's questioning the defendant

88
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from up there.

89
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And the defendant is three years old

90
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and the eyes don't reach
the side of the table.

91
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The defendant does not speak the language.

92
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The earphones for the translator
have fallen off the defendant's head,

93
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because there are no headphones
for three-year-olds in US courtrooms,

94
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because they are not supposed
to defend themselves.

95
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This makes a mockery of justice,

96
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it makes a mockery
of the prosecution system,

97
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it makes a mockery
of who we are as a nation.

98
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These are absurdities.

99
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These are atrocities.

100
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This is unbelievable.

101
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And we're looking
at a bunch of statistics,

102
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but I want you to understand,

103
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this is happening to the housekeeper
who brought up your kids.

104
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This is happening to the gardener
who took care of your house.

105
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This is happening to the guy
who washed the dishes

106
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in the fancy restaurant
you went to last week.

107
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This is happening to the people
who deliver the newspaper in the mornings.

108
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This is your community,

109
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these are the people who have lived
side by side with you.

110
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Treated you well,

111
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treated you with respect,

112
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taken care of your kids,

113
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taken care of your grandparents.

114
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This is Luis, this is Laura,

115
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this is Jaime.

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This isn't some abstract,

117
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"Oh, it's happening at the border" --

118
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this is happening
in our community, right now.

119
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And the danger in this stuff

120
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is once you start normalizing
absurdities and atrocities,

121
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people think that
those instruments are legitimate.

122
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So you get school boards
sending out letters like this:

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"Dear Parent,

124
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because your kid owes
lunch money to the cafeteria,

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the result may be that your child
will be taken away

126
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and put in foster care."

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This is going out from school boards

128
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because people think,

129
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"Well, that seems to be
an instrument of deterrence."

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When you board an airplane,

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before kids, before first class,

132
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soldiers in uniform board.

133
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Some of them are immigrants.

134
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Here's a contract: join the army,

135
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serve your term, be honorably discharged,

136
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get citizenship.

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We are rescinding those contracts

138
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after they have been signed.

139
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And if those soldiers
are killed in action,

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we are deporting their wives,
and sometimes, their children.

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These are the people who protect us.

142
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These are the people that we honor.

143
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These are the brave.

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And this is how we're treating them.

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These are not the people
who cross the border illegally.

146
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Once you start allowing
this kind of behavior,

147
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it normalizes into a society,
and it rips the society apart.

148
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Countries are built on the hard work
and grit of immigrants;

149
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we are all immigrants.

150
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We just came at different times.

151
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Fifty-five percent
of this country's main businesses,

152
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the most successful businesses
in this country, the unicorns,

153
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are built by people who came
as foreign students or as immigrants,

154
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and they're the founders
or the cofounders.

155
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Well, here's what's happened
over the last three years

156
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to the best brains in the world.

157
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Forty-two percent of them
did not get visas

158
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or chose not to get visas.

159
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This is how you wipe out an economy.

160
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This isn't about kids and borders.

161
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It's about us.

162
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This is about who we are,
who we the people are,

163
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as a nation and as individuals.

164
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This is not an abstract debate.

165
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A lot of us like to think

166
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if we had been back
when Hitler was rising to power,

167
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we would have been out in the street,

168
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we would have opposed him,
we would have stopped Mengele.

169
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A lot of us like to think,

170
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if we had been around during the '60s,

171
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we would have been
with the Freedom Riders.

172
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We would have been
at that bridge in Selma.

173
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Well, guess what?

174
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Here's your chance.

175
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It's now.

176
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And as you're thinking about this stuff,

177
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it's not just the giant acts,

178
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it's not just go and block the bridge

179
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or chain yourself to something.

180
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It's what you do in your daily lives.

181
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The Harvard Art Museum just opened a show

182
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on how artists think about immigration
and building a home somewhere else.

183
00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:26,410
And people come out of that show
and they're pretty shaken.

184
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There was a blank wall at the end.

185
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And the curators did something
that usually doesn't happen --

186
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they improvised.

187
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They drew four lines,
and put in two words:

188
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"I belong."

189
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So you come out of this exhibit,

190
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and you can take a picture in front of it.

191
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I can't tell you the impact
that has on people --

192
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I watched people come out of this,

193
00:08:47,116 --> 00:08:49,537
and some of them sat
in front of that picture,

194
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took a picture, and they had
a great, big grin on their face,

195
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and some people just had tears.

196
00:08:55,173 --> 00:08:57,236
Some people hugged
and brought in strangers,

197
00:08:57,260 --> 00:08:58,997
others brought in their family.

198
00:09:01,796 --> 00:09:05,574
Small acts of kindness
go a long, long, long way.

199
00:09:06,677 --> 00:09:08,621
There is pain going on in your community

200
00:09:08,645 --> 00:09:10,245
like you cannot believe.

201
00:09:11,025 --> 00:09:14,089
So next time you're with a cab driver
who may be one of "Them,"

202
00:09:14,113 --> 00:09:16,438
according to certain people,

203
00:09:16,462 --> 00:09:18,620
give that person an extra five bucks.

204
00:09:20,025 --> 00:09:22,627
Next time you see a hotel maid,

205
00:09:22,651 --> 00:09:24,584
thank her and tip her double.

206
00:09:25,895 --> 00:09:28,283
Next time you see your gardener,

207
00:09:28,307 --> 00:09:30,331
you see your nanny,

208
00:09:30,355 --> 00:09:31,712
you see somebody like this,

209
00:09:31,736 --> 00:09:34,291
give them a great, big hug,
and tell them they belong.

210
00:09:34,315 --> 00:09:35,845
Make them feel like they belong.

211
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It's time for big policies,

212
00:09:38,213 --> 00:09:41,935
but it's also time
for big acts of kindness.

213
00:09:43,206 --> 00:09:45,110
Because we have to reclaim who we are,

214
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we have to reclaim this nation.

215
00:09:47,712 --> 00:09:50,593
(Voice breaking) And we cannot sit there

216
00:09:50,617 --> 00:09:52,768
and watch this shit going on.

217
00:09:53,791 --> 00:09:56,402
This has got to stop,
it's got to stop now.

218
00:09:57,196 --> 00:09:58,373
Thank you.

219
00:09:58,397 --> 00:10:02,682
(Applause)