MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY MESSAGE FROM THE NYGOP
Today, Americans pause to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., an American icon, baptist minister, winner of the 1964 Nobel Prize for Peace, and leader of the U.S. Civil Rights movement.
For thirteen years, beginning with the Bus Boycotts in Montgomery, Dr. King rallied our Nation to live up to the promise of full equality under the law, without regard to race, religion, color, or creed.
His dream of a Nation where Americans were judged not “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” echoes through the ages.
The NYGOP is proud of the Republican Party’s history of fighting for civil rights. Founded in 1854 as the anti-slavery party, Republicans fought to amend the Constitution to grant African-Americans freedom, citizenship and the right to vote. From the 1860s to the 1960s civil rights legislation passed with strong Republican support.
Republicans started the NAACP and President Nixon’s 1969 Philadelphia Plan, crafted by African-American Republican Art Fletcher, set the nation’s first goals and timetables to increase African-American employment to offset institutionalized discrimination.
We encourage all New Yorkers to take a moment and consider the lasting impact of Dr. King’s ideals – especially his devotion to the principle of non-violence as they key instrument for change, and their continued relevance today.
