Proclamation 4160—National Heritage Day

The special quality of the United States is the interaction of many peoples from many lands, each asserting the freedom to be different, each respecting and honoring his own ethnic heritage, while contributing to a nation in which all are Americans together.

The shining guarantee of our national future is precisely the repeated rebirth, the reinvigoration, the gift of renewal, implicit in this constant meeting of the world's peoples here in our own land.

The unusual virtue of the United States is that all men and women are accepted for what they are, with friendship and respect rounded upon knowledge and understanding of all races, creeds, and national origins.

The "melting pot" is one of unity, but never of uniformity.

The national pride of the United States is, in this sense, pride of our people in the heritage we draw from all nations.

In order that we may pause for a moment to express our appreciation of America's heritage, the Congress, by House Joint Resolution 1304, has requested the President to issue a proclamation designating Sunday, October 1, 1972, as National Heritage Day.

Now, Therefore, I, Richard M. Nixon, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim Sunday, October 1, 1972, as National Heritage Day. I call upon all Americans to reflect upon the composite vitality, enthusiasm and tenacity of the many separate peoples who have built our beloved country, and to celebrate, with appropriate ceremonies, the fact that our one nation is many nations, and our many nations are one nation, dedicated to freedom, under God.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this thirtieth day of September, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred seventy-two, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred ninety-seventh.

RICHARD NIXON