What we have to do... is to find a way to celebrate our diversity and debate our differences without fracturing our communities.

In the days ahead, I will propose more ways for more Americans to get involved in national service and give back to our communities, because every one of us has a role to play in building the future we want.

Throughout the 1980s, we did hear too much about individual gain and the ethos of selfishness and greed. We did not hear enough about how to be a good member of a community, to define the common good and to repair the social contract. And we also found that while prosperity does not trickle down from the most powerful to the rest of us, all too often indifference and even intolerance do.

I will always stand up and fight for you and fight for your jobs and fight for your families.

I take seriously the concerns that voters are expressing. There's a lot of disappointment, fear, even anger, among people who believe that the economy has failed them, their government has failed them, politics has failed them. They have every right to be concerned.

If Hollywood and Bollywood were how we all lived our lives, that would surprise me. And yet it's often the way our cultures are conveyed, isn't it?

Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will. And deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs and structural biases have to be changed.