Albuquerque, January 16—Today, we honor Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and reflect on why his fight for justice is essential to the Republican Party.
Throughout American history, Martin Luther King Jr. was undoubtedly one of our greatest freedom fighters. Martin Luther King Jr. was a great example of a man who fought for our cherished values of faith, liberty, and justice.
These long-held values that conservatives have fought for led to the formation of the Republican Party in 1854 as the “anti-slavery party.” Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, issued the Emancipation Proclamation. It was Lincoln and the Republican Party that passed the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery. It was the Republican Party that passed the 14th Amendment, giving African Americans citizenship, and it was the Republican Party that passed the 15th Amendment, giving African American men the right to vote.
Martin Luther King Jr. continued this fight for justice, and his transformative speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial will forever speak to the heart of our Republican Party, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
