I know you don't know me. I don't know you either. This letter isn't a letter where I tell you that you inherited 10 million from an unknown uncle or a letter that directs you to a hidden treasure. I write this letter as a snapshot in time so that you can understand exactly what it is that your dad did for us on this day.
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Girls, or should I say ladies, I know you love your father. I know what fierce pride must burn in your hearts for the achievements of your remarkable father. I know you have been told of his place in history and his incredible heart. No one other than perhaps your mother knows this better that you. What I hope to impart to you two ladies is what he meant to us at this incredible time in our nation's history.
Malia, Sasha, you never lived in a time where someone with your skin color couldn't drink at the same fountain as me. You never lived in a time where being a black woman meant that the best you could hope for was an affirmative action role in the Department of Labor. Your dad fixed that.
Malia, Sasha, you never felt the indignation and shame of being followed in department stores, condescending job interviews and bad stereotypes. Your dad fixed that.
Malia, Sasha, you never felt the incredible welling of millions of people that saw your dad accept the nomination of his party who remembered a different America that despite their pride and patriotism, treated them as lesser humans not worthy of their constitutional rights as Americans.
Malia, Sasha, you have the great and unending priviledge of being the daughters of one of the great heroes of our American dream. What your dad did this night, what your dad said this night, what your dad imagined this night is as worthy of our praise as any event we have ever accomplished in this great and blessed nation.
Malia, Sasha, I want you to know what your dad meant to us tonight. I would like to think that by the time 2018 rolls around this will all be well documented by your remarkable father's eight years in office. If that is the case then there will be a veritable sea of things for you to read and live through to give you a full and appreciative understanding of what you dad meant and did for us on this August night. But on the off chance he should lose this election or God forbid, not live to see the end of his Presidency, that he should move to the back of our nation's discussion, I wanted you to know and remember what an amazing father he is and was and how he made our national heart a better place to live in and appreciate.