Returning to the founders' vision of universal human dignity

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Celebrating Martin Luther King Day
How Martin Luther King Embodied Our Founding Principles
John,

Nearly 60 years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have A Dream ([link removed]) ” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

King's powerful plea for equal rights has resonated with Americans ever since that summer day, 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 Founders articulated.

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 so many black Americans felt alienated from their country and wanted revolutionary change.
King, however, did not repudiate his American heritage. If anything, he clung more closely to it. At the Lincoln Memorial, he said:

“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men — yes, black men as well as white men — would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
In King’s mind, the solution to the injustices of American life could be discovered right in the very documents that birthed our country. King wanted to extend the same benefits of citizenship to the African Americans who had been excluded from them for so long. He “refuse[d] to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.”

King fought so that all Americans would be treated fairly and given equal opportunities for success. His faith was that we could fight racial injustice in our role as citizens. Rather than the extremes of revolutionary violence or defeatist retreat, he argued that “We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.”

King believed that by respecting one another as equals in citizenship, both white and black Americans could work together to fulfill the promises of the American Founding.

There is a lot that divides Americans today. But there is so much more that unites us. By laying claim to our nation's founding principles, King showed Americans today how we can reinvigorate citizenship by living up to those promises.

Gratefully,
Hans Zeiger
President
We Need Your Support
The biggest threat to our nation's future is an uninformed citizenry that lacks an understanding and appreciation for our founding principles.
Too many students graduate having never learned about the American political tradition—the history and values of self-government and the freedom it gives each of them to achieve their dreams.

The Jack Miller Center is building a movement of civics teachers, scholars, and concerned citizens who seek to preserve the American political tradition. And we've already reached 1.65 million students from K-12 through college. With your support, we can reach tens of millions more.
Please, join us in the effort. Help grow our network of dedicated college educators. Give K-12 teachers the knowledge, content, and resources they need. Help us restore civic education grounded in America's founding principles and history.

Your donation, large or small, will be a crucial investment in the future of our country. This will be one of the most important inheritances you leave your children, your grandchildren, and their children.
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About the Jack Miller Center
The Jack Miller Center is a nationwide network of scholars and teachers committed to educating the next generation about the foundational texts and ideas of the American political tradition.

We have three strategies to pursue this mission:
1. build and sustain a community of scholars in the fields of American political thought and history;
2. restore the teaching of American citizenship in K-12 schools that centers on the country’s history, the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and other foundational texts in the American tradition; and
3. partner with organizations and philanthropists to advance civic education that is grounded in America’s founding principles and history.

We are building a movement of educators and citizens to advance the principles of equality, liberty, and opportunity that lie at the heart of the American political tradition.

Learn more at www.jackmillercenter.org ([link removed])

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