1:49
- ABC News
- June 20, 2015
Hillary Clinton Calls for 'Common Sense' Gun Control After Charleston Shooting
"We must tackle this with urgency and conviction.”
1:49
“It is tempting to dismiss a tragedy like this as an isolated incident, to believe that in today’s America, bigotry is largely behind us, that institutionalized racism no longer exists,” Clinton said.
But electing a black president didn't eliminate racial disparities in the criminal justice system, education and the economy, Clinton said.
“More than half a century after Dr. King marched and Rosa Parks sat and John Lewis bled, after the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, how can any of these things be true?” she asked.
“America’s long struggle with race is far from finished,” she said. “Our problem is not all kooks and Klansman. It’s the joke that goes unchallenged; it’s the offhand comment about not wanting 'those people' in the neighborhood.”
The former secretary of state lauded the families of the Charleston victims, who Friday offered Roof their forgiveness.
“In its way, their act of mercy was more stunning than his act of cruelty,” Clinton said.
She also recognized Debbie Dills, who spotted Roof and called police, vowing, “she didn’t remain silent -- well neither can we.”
","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/Politics/hillary-clinton-calls-common-sense-gun-control-charleston/story?id=31910937","legacySlug":"/news/story/hillary-clinton-calls-common-sense-gun-control-charleston-31910937","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"18:19","publishDate":"06-20-2015","updatedTime":"19:35","updatedDate":"06-20-2015","socialImage":{"alt":"Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the U.S. Conference of Mayors 83rd Annual Meeting in San Francisco, June 20, 2015.","credit":"Mathew Sumner/AP Photo","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Politics/AP_hillary_clinton_san_francisco_jt_150620_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"6/20/2015 18:19:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":31910937,"headline":"Hillary Clinton Calls for 'Common Sense' Gun Control After Charleston Shooting","mediaAssetTitle":"DOOLEY_Hillary_Mayors_20150620","description":"\"We must tackle this with urgency and conviction.”","duration":"1:49","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2015/06/150620_pol_clinton2_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["31896001","31865375","31855652"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"June 19, 2015","headline":"Emotional Way Family Members Confronted Dylann Roof in Court","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/dylann-roof-hears-victims-families-speak-1st-court-31896001","id":31896001,"image":{"alt":"Emotional Way Family Members Confronted Dylann Roof in Court","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/abc_dylann_roof_2_kb_150619_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"ABC News","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"June 18, 2015","headline":"Shooting Suspect 'Big Into Segregation,' Roommate Says","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/charleston-shooting-closer-alleged-gunman-dylann-roof-31865375","id":31865375,"image":{"alt":"Shooting Suspect 'Big Into Segregation,' Roommate Says","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/ht_dylann_root_profile_kb_150618_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Dylann Roof/Facebook","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"June 18, 2015","headline":"A Timeline of the Church Shooting in Charleston","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/charleston-shooting-happened-inside-church-31855652","id":31855652,"image":{"alt":"A Timeline of the Church Shooting in Charleston","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/AP_shooting3_sc_ml_150618_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"David Goldman/AP Photo","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Hillary Clinton Calls for 'Common Sense' Gun Control After Charleston Shooting","description":"\"We must tackle this with urgency and conviction.”","duration":"1:49","uploadDate":"06-20-2015","publication":"06-20-2015","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2015/06/150620_pol_clinton2_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2015/06/150620_pol_clinton2_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/hillary-clinton-calls-common-sense-gun-control-charleston-31910937"}},"playlist":[{"id":"132281378","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132283010","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132273278","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132231169","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132206748","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132200241","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132054443","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132054798","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132033010","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131912713","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131830583","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131834976","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554765","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554815","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131543053","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131432442","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131121474","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131247079","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131228784","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131178806","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:news:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"news","title":"Hillary Clinton Calls for 'Common Sense' Gun Control After Charleston Shooting","pubTime":"14:19","pubDate":"06-20-2015","modTime":"15:35","modDate":"06-20-2015","taxonomyTags":"none","id":31910937,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Hillary Clinton Calls for 'Common Sense' Gun Control After Charleston Shooting","mediaAssetTitle":"DOOLEY_Hillary_Mayors_20150620","videoId":31910937,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/news/story/hillary-clinton-calls-common-sense-gun-control-charleston-31910937"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/31910937","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/31910937","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};