The famous politician was warmly welcomed into the large southern city. They were celebrating the city's birthday. It would be a week or more of festivals, highlighted by the grand speech he was going to make in the town square. Everybody was excited. The crowd was overflowing; they threw flowers as his motorcade went through the city.

He began speaking.

Everybody was here. It had been a long time since slavery ended. Many wars had brought the north and south together. Struggling together had helped the people get along with one another better too. Of course race relations remained a problem, not just for this city, not just for the south, but for the entire nation.

There was a great pause, almost a gasp, as he began talking about racism.

The nation had made much progress, but we had a long, long way to go. There was no more ignoring it. We had work ahead of us. It was time to acknowledge that.

He concluded by discussing education and labor, proclaiming that "[This city's] next fifty years could be even more glorious if the city’s legislators and citizens had the courage to be right."

The crowd sat in stunned silence. Race relations had to change. We all had to do the right thing. What kind of celebration is this? But as the speech went on, in the back, a large section of black people cheered as loudly as they could.

There were some more formalities for the politician, parties and awards, but nothing could come close to the impact of his speech. Around midnight the large party of dignitaries departed. The city swept up the debris of the celebration as best as possible given the chaos.

It was an important milestone. It would be forty years before another politician of this stature would give a speech like he did. It would be longer still until some of the goals he advocated in the park that day were made into law.

He was not a perfect man. Today nobody remembers him. He said many racist things and was rumored to be as racist as anybody else in the crowd that day. But he spoke the truth, and he spoke it in a place and at a time where people hated him for it.

That man was president Warren G. Harding, the 29th president of the United States of America. To this day some people in Birmingham, Alabama still remember hearing about his visit.

That was 99 years ago, 21 October, 1921.