The United States has been called the melting pot of the world. But it seems to me that the colored man either missed getting into the pot or he got melted down.

Mere access to the courthouse doors does not by itself assure a proper functioning of the adversary process.

I'm the world's original gradualist. I just think ninety-odd years is gradual enough.

Today's Constitution is a realistic document of freedom only because of several corrective amendments. Those amendments speak to a sense of decency and fairness that I and other Blacks cherish.

The process of democracy is one of change. Our laws are not frozen into immutable form, they are constantly in the process of revision in response to the needs of a changing society.

When in Gregg v. Georgia the Supreme Court gave its seal of approval to capital punishment, this endorsement was premised on the promise that capital punishment would be administered with fairness and justice. Instead, the promise has become a cruel and empty mockery. If not remedied, the scandalous state of our present system of capital punishment will cast a pall of shame over our society for years to come. We cannot let it continue.

In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.