See Top Moments from Obama's Speech

WHEN IT WAS MY TURN, I EXPLAINED TO THEM WHEN I WAS THEIR AGE, I WAS A LOT LIKE THEM. I DIDN'T HAVE A DAD IN THE HOUSE. I WAS ANGRY ABOUT IT EVEN THOUGH I DIDN'T NECESSARILY REALIZED AT THE TIME. I MADE BAD CHOICES. I GOT HIGH WITHOUT ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT THE HARM IT COULD DO. I DIDN'T ALWAYS TAKE SCHOOL AS SERIOUSLY AS I SHOULD HAVE. I MADE EXCUSES. SOMETIMES I SOLD MYSELF SHORT. I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS SAYING THIS, CHRISTIAN, YOU MAY REMEMBER THIS. AFTER I WAS FINISHED, THE GUY SITTING NEXT TO ME SAID ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT YOU? I SAID YEAH. AND THE POINT WAS I COULD SEE MYSELF IN THESE YOUNG MEN. THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THAT I GREW UP IN AN ENVIRONMENT THAT WAS A LITTLE BIT MORE FORGIVING. SO WHEN I MADE A MISTAKE, THE CONSEQUENCES WERE NOT AS SEVERE. I HAD PEOPLE WHO ENCOURAGED ME AND NOT JUST MY MOM AND GRANDPARENTS, BUT TEACHERS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS. THEY PUSHED ME TO WORK HARD AND STUDY HARD AND MAKE THE MOST OF MYSELF. IF I DIDN'T LISTEN, THEY SAID IT AGAIN. IF I DIDN'T LISTEN, THEY SAID IT A THIRD TIME AND THEY WOULD GIVE ME SECOND CHANCES AND THIRD CHANCES. THEY NEVER GAVE UP ON ME. SO I DIDN'T GIVE UP ON MYSELF. I TOLD THESE YOUNG MEN MY STORY THEN AND I REPEAT IT NOW BECAUSE I FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT EVERY CHILD DESERVES THE SAME CHANCES THAT I HAD. THAT'S WHY WE ARE HERE TODAY. TO DO WHAT WE CAN IN THIS YEAR OF ACTION TO GIVE MORE YOUNG AMERICANS THE SUPPORT THEY NEED TO MAKE GOOD CHOICES. TO BE RESILIENT AND OVERCOME T SUCCEED IN MANY WAYS. SO THOSE ARE EXAMPLES OF EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENT. WE ALL KNOW THAT. WE DON'T NEED TO STEREOTYPE THAT THERE IS NO DYSFUNCTION OUT THERE. BUT 50 YEARS AFTER DR. KING TALKED ABOUT HIS DREAM FOR AMERICA'S CHILDREN, THE STUBBORN FACT IS THAT THE LIFE CHANCES, THE AVERAGE BLACK OR BROWN CHILD IN THIS COUNTRY, LAGS BEHIND BY ALMOST EVERY MEASURE AND IS WORSE FOR BOYS AND YOUNG MEN. IF YOU'RE AFRICAN-AMERICAN, THERE'S ABOUT ONE IN TWO CHANCE YOU GROW UP WITHOUT A FATHER IN YOUR HOUSE. TWO, IF YOU'RE LATINO, YOU HAVE ABOUT ONE IN FOUR CHANCE. WE KNOW BOYS WHO GROW UP WITHOUT A FATHER ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE POOR AND AS A BLACK STUDENT YOU ARE LESS LIKELY TO READ AS PROFICIENT IN THE FOURTH GRADE. BY THE TIME YOU REACH HIGH SCHOOL, YOU ARE FAR MORE LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED OR EXPELLED. THERE'S A HIGHER CHANCE YOU END UP IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. AND A FAR HIGHER CHANCE THAT YOU ARE THE VICTIM OF A VIOLENT CRIME. FEWER BLACK AND LATINO MEN HAVE HIGHER POVERTY RATES AND UNEMPLOYMENT RATES AS ADULTS. AND THE WORST PART IS, WE'VE BECOME NUMB TO THESE STATISTICS. WE'RE NOT SURPRISED BY THEM. WE TAKE THEM AS THE NORM. WE JUST ASSUME THIS IS AN INEVITABLE PART OF AMERICAN LIFE. INSTEAD OF THE OUTRAGE THAT IT IS. THAT'S HOW WE THINK ABOUT IT. [ APPLAUSE ] IT'S LIKE A CULTURAL BACKDROP FORCE IN MOVIES, TELEVISION. WE JUST ASSUME, OF COURSE IT'S GOING TO BE LIKE THAT. BUT THESE STATISTICS SHOULD BREAK OUR HEARTS. AND THEY SHOULD COMPEL US TO ACT. YOU KNOW, MICHELLE AND I ARE BLESSED WITH TWO BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS. WE DON'T HAVE A SON. BUT I KNOW IF I HAD A SON, ON THE BAY HE WAS BORN, I WOULD HAVE FELT EVERYTHING THAT I FELT WITH MALIA AND SASHA, THE AWE, THE GRATITUDE, OVERWHELMING RESPONSIBILITY TO DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO PROTECT THAT AMAZING NEW LIFE FROM THIS BIG WORLD OUT THERE. AND I WANT MY SON TO FEEL A SENSE OF BOUNDLESS POSSIBILITY. I WANT HIM TO HAVE INDEPENDENCE AND CONFIDENCE. I WANT HIM TO HAVE EMPATHY AND COMPASSION. I WANT HIM TO HAVE A SENSE OF DILIGENCE AND COMPASSION FOR HIMSELF, THE TOOLS THAT HE WOULD NEED TO SUCCEED. I DON'T HAVE A SON, BUT AS PARENTS, THAT'S WHAT WE SHOULD WANT, NOT JUST FOR OUR CHILDREN BUT FOR ALL CHILDREN. [ APPLAUSE ] AND I -- AND I BELIEVE THE CONTINUING STRUGGLES OF SO MANY BOYS AND YOUNG MEN, THE FACT THAT TOO MANY OF THEM ARE FALLING BY THE WAYSIDE, DROPPING