How MLK Embodied Our Founding Principles
Commentary
Nearly 60 years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.
King’s powerful plea for equal rights has resonated with Americans ever since, in no small part because his message was wrapped in an enlightened patriotism. He understood that the best way to fight bigotry was by returning to the vision of universal human dignity the American Founders articulated in our nation’s founding documents.
In 1963, African Americans faced intense oppression. Segregation laws and widespread racial prejudice denied them equal opportunity. America clearly wasn’t living up to the Founders’ ideal of human equality, so it’s easy to understand why many black Americans felt alienated from their country and wanted revolutionary change….