GOP Continues to Support and Advance Martin Luther King's Legacy
We cannot improve upon Rev. Martin Luther King’s vision; we embrace it fully as the continuing goal for Gwinnett County and for America. He wrote:
“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.
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.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny, and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.”
The achievements of the Civil Rights movement, led by Dr. King and embraced by Republicans, are very real and significant. The Jim Crow laws of the early 20thcentury, created and enforced mostly by Southern Democrats, have been eliminated giving Blacks, and all races and ethnicities, equal voting rights. This elimination of this example of real systemic racism – racist practices and policies implemented in law – is the high turnout of Black voters in Georgia, for example, in 2020. Republicans celebrate this success! We want every legal voter to vote!
Simply stated, Republicans stand for equality. Equal protection under the law – there should be no favored race and no race discriminated against. Equal opportunity in education, business, and all areas of life.
We believe that our identity as humans, created equal, requires us to treat each other with respect.
Webster’s definitions of racism include
1. a belief that race is a fundamental determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race, or behavior or attitudes that reflect and foster this belief
2. the systemic oppression of a racial group to the social, economic, and political advantage of another
Gwinnett Republicans call on every citizen of Gwinnett to reject racism (both as personal belief and as systemic/legal policy).
Charges of systemic racism in America are mostly untrue. Systemic Racism is a myth – to our knowledge, no specific examples of racist laws or policies have been identified – these became illegal with the Civil Rights Act. It is a concept and a theory. We simply ask the proponents to prove it - give some examples - these should be defeated in the courts. It is not helpful to accuse persons and institutions of racism based on a vague theory. It actually demeans the people who have suffered real racism, shameful acts of brutality, in the past and sadly these also occur in the present, and should stop.
Join us in celebrating the victories and achievements of the Civil Rights movement and in keeping Rev. Martin Luther King’s dream alive for the next generation of citizens of Gwinnett County. Likewise, we ask you to join us in opposing those, like the proponents of Critical Race Theory, who claim that Dr. King was wrong and that there has been no progress in race relations in past decades.