Why does the right continue to claim that Martin Luther King Jr. was a republican??? Everything the man stood for did not match with conservative values. News Flash! It was Martin Senior that was a republican... Many prominent African Americans were then

Character assassination. That's the tactic used by Democrats in the 1960's to
discredit Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. a Republican who was fighting the
Democrats and trying to stop them from denying civil rights to blacks.
The relentless disparagement of Dr. King by Democrats led to his being
physically assaulted and ultimately to his tragic death. In March of 1968, while
referring to Dr. King's leaving Memphis, Tennessee after riots broke out where
a teenager was killed, Democrat Senator Robert Byrd, a former member of the
Ku Klux Klan, called Dr. King a "trouble-maker" who starts trouble, but runs
like a coward after trouble is ignited. A few weeks later, Dr. King returned to
Memphis and was assassinated on April 4, 1968.
Prior to his death, Democrats bombed Dr. King's home several times. The scurrilous efforts by the
Democrats to harm Dr. King included spreading rumors that he was a Communist and accusing him
of being a womanizer and a plagiarist.
An egregious act against Dr. King occurred on
October 10, 1963. With the approval of Democrat
President John F. Kennedy, Democrat Attorney
General Robert F. Kennedy – President Kennedy's
brother – authorized the wiretapping of Dr. King's
telephone by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI). Wiretaps were placed by the FBI on the
telephones in Dr. King's home and office. The FBI
also bugged Dr. King's hotel rooms when he traveled
around the country.
The trigger for this unsavory wiretapping was
apparently Dr. Kings' criticism of the Kennedy
Administration, according to the author David Garrow
in his book, “Bearing the Cross”. The justification
given by the Kennedy Administration publicly was
that two of Dr. King's associates, including David
Levinson, had ended their association with the
Communist Party in order to work undercover and
influence Dr. King. However, after years of
continuous and extensive wiretapping, the FBI found
no direct links of Dr. King to the Communist Party.
The unrelenting efforts by Democrats to tarnish Dr.
King's reputation continued for years after his death.
To his credit, Republican President Ronald Reagan
ignored the Democrats' smear campaign and made
Dr. King's birthday a holiday.
Today, while professing to revere Dr. King, Democrats are still trying to sully his image by making
remarks that diminish his civil rights achievements and continuing to claim that Dr. King embraced
Communism – a system that is secularist and socialist.
In reality, Dr. King was a Christian who held deeply religious beliefs and was guided by his faith and
his Republican Party principles in his struggle to gain equality for blacks. He did not embrace the
type of socialist, secularist agenda that is promoted by the Democratic Party today, which includes
fostering dependency on welfare that breaks up families, supporting same-sex marriage and banning
God from the public square.
An understanding of who the real Dr. King was can be gained from a glimpse of Dr. King as a young
man who participated in an oratorical contest when he was 14 years old. The title of his speech was
"The Negro and the Constitution" which had the following sentences: "We cannot have an
enlightened democracy with one great group living in ignorance…We cannot be truly Christian people
so long as we flout the central teachings of Jesus: brotherly love and the Golden Rule…."
If Dr. King were still alive, he would be slandered by Democrats in the same way that they smeared
him in the 1960's and demean all black Republicans today.

http://cache.trustedpartner.c...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Dr. Alveda King did not vote for Obama. She said her uncle would not agree with Barack Obama.check out the links...according to Martin Luther Kings family is was a republican..but believe what you want..

In July 1862, Congress passed the Second Confiscation Act, which freed the slaves of anyone convicted of aiding the rebellion. Although Lincoln believed it wasn't in Congress's remit to free any slaves, he approved the bill. He felt freeing the slaves could only be done by the Commander in Chief during wartime, and that signing the bill would help placate those in Congress who wanted to do it through legislation. In that month, Lincoln discussed a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation with his cabinet. In it, he stated that "as a fit and necessary military measure" on January 1, 1863, "all persons held as a slaves" in the Confederate states will " thenceforward, and forever, be free."
With a draft of the Proclamation already on Lincoln's desk, the president subordinated the goal of ending slavery to the cause of preserving the Union, while, at the same time, preparing the public for the emancipation. Lincoln had decided at this point that he could not win the war without freeing the slaves, and so it was a necessity to do more to help the cause.
The Emancipation Proclamation, announced on September 22, 1862 and put into effect on January 1, 1863, freed slaves in territories not already under Union control. As Union armies advanced south, more slaves were liberated until all of them in Confederate territory (over three million) were freed. Lincoln later said: "I never, in my life, felt more certain that I was doing right, than I do in signing this paper." The proclamation made the abolition of slavery in the rebel states an official war goal.
Lincoln then threw his energies into passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to permanently abolish slavery throughout the nation. He personally lobbied individual Congressmen for the Amendment, which was passed by the Congress in early 1865, shortly before his death.

Sorry for my imprecision. Yes it is true his father was a registered Republican, and it is also true that most blacks of the era and location Dr. King grew up in tended to be Republicans, but there is no evidence that he actually ever registered with any party.

It's really not as big an issue as they try to make it anyway. The Republican Party of 2009 has about as much to do with the history and traditions and principles of the historic GOP as they do with puppies. There can be no doubt that genuine noble Republicans like Abraham Lincoln or Theodore Roosevelt would be Democrats were they around today.


Here's a pretty good article on it:

Was Martin Luther King A Republican?

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s actions and words changed the face of our nation. He will forever be remembered as a prime mover of the civil rights era.

For the past few years, black Republican groups like the “Raging Elephants” and the “National Black Republican Association” have unveiled billboards declaring, “Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican.”

We know a great deal about Dr. King's public life from his many speeches, but we don’t know a lot about the civil rights icon’s voting record. (Indeed, he was not registered with a political party.) Was Martin Luther King, Jr. a Republican or a Democrat?

There are few definitive facts: Martin Luther King was certainly able to sway the vast majority of the black vote, and he was courteous and critical to both Republicans and Democrats. He never officially endorsed a party or a candidate.

The closest Dr. King came to an endorsement was his harsh criticism of Barry Goldwater in 1964 (thus, a nod toward Lyndon Johnson) – Goldwater had voted against the Civil Rights Act. However, Martin Luther King also spoke out against the Vietnam War, and thus, Johnson. It’s complex.

Dr. King’s political leanings were probably influenced a great deal by his father, Martin Luther King, Sr. – who was a noted Republican. He would have likely endorsed Richard Nixon for the 1960 election. But when the younger King was arrested during a sit-in, it was then-presidential candidate John F. Kennedy who ensured his release, as a favor to Martin Luther King, Sr. After his son was freed, King backed him in the election – and some 10 million votes were delivered for the Democrat. (As a side note, Kennedy was not known for being an overly enthusiastic supporter of civil rights.)

It seems that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was neither a Republican nor a Democrat.

Remember, in the 1950s and ‘60s, the political parties were much different than they are today. Republicans were (and still are) thought of as the political party of business and are primarily interested in enforcing the status quo. Democrats were the political party of “progression and change,” but Southern Democrats were known for working with the KKK – think Strom Thurmond and Robert Byrd. After the Civil Rights Act passed, many Southern Democrats became Republicans.

When remembering Dr. King, don’t worry if he was a Democrat or a Republican. Instead, try to rise above labels and identify the good and bad that exists in both political parties. Try to emulate Martin Luther King, Jr. His example should prompt us to be better men and women.

http://www.rantrave.com/Rant/...

None of the above!

It is time for conservatives to lay claim to the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. King was no stalwart conservative, yet his core beliefs, such as the power and necessity of faith-based association and self-government based on absolute truth and moral law, are profoundly conservative. Modern liberalism rejects these ideas, while conservatives place them at the center of their philosophy. Despite decades of its appropriation by liberals, King’s message was fundamentally conservative.



The Montgomery Bus Boycott, triggered by Rosa Parks’ refusal to abide by local segregation laws, sparked King’s rise from ministering a small church in Montgomery to national renown. King’s primary aim was not to change laws, but to change people, to make neighbors of enemies and a nation out of divided races. King led with love, not racial hatred. From a jail cell in Birmingham, Alabama to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, his message inspired the nation. And his message and achievements inspire us today.



Dr. King believed in the principles of the American Founding. He maintained, "We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom." Throughout American history, racism has posed a peculiar obstacle to the achievement of that goal. However, Dr. King believed that the Founders had set the nation on the right course. He did not reject the principles of our nation because contradictions existed; instead he hoped that racial groups would put aside their differences and acknowledge the principles that unite all Americans. Today, it is conservatives who seek to unite. In a nation divided by cultural diversity, conservatives defend and celebrate the characteristics that we share as Americans. As America drifts from the ideas and ideals of the Founders, conservatives stand with King as believers that the principles of the American Founding are as relevant today as in 1776.



Dr. King believed in a fixed moral law, an anathema to moral relativists espousing subjective values. For King, a just law was "a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God." Dr. King required that his followers lead moral lives, and he emphasized the importance of faith in the face of adversity. Modern liberalism has rebuffed this teaching, dedicating great effort to silence religion and morality. Again, conservatives are the standard-bearers here.



For Dr. King, individual freedom depended upon civic responsibility. He proclaimed, "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." Racial judgment is inherently unjust, but judgment based on moral character is essential. King wanted his children to live in a colorblind society but not a value-neutral society that rejects all standards of judgment. Today, this is the conservative message. Moral character as expressed in our social interactions is at the center of self-government, which in turn is the sustaining force of American democracy. Conservatives know that without a morally-informed sense of social obligation, we would be rudderless.



In today’s parlance, Dr. King's movement would be called “faith-based.” Unlike the doggedly secular groups that now campaign for government action in the name of “social justice,” King’s coalition was explicitly religious, rooted in churches and Christian morality. King’s ever-growing congregation labored for reform in Montgomery, in Alabama, and then all across the country. The Montgomery Bus Boycott testifies to the strength of churches and local institutions to make a difference. The heart of the conservatism has always been grassroots movement, from the bottom up rather than from the top down, focused on faith-based and community associations. While liberals who claim King’s legacy seek to mandate social change from the nation’s capital, conservatives seek to empower communities, associations, and congregations to carry out moral ends.



King aimed to unite a divided America behind the goals of the Founders, not to shift fundamentally unjust public policies to favor different groups. Affirmative action stands outside King’s legacy because it requires the government to see Americans as members of privileged and disfavored racial groups, not equal individuals. This is also the conservative view.



It is not a coincidence that conservatives share Dr. King's core principles, as they are the principles of the American Founding and continue to guide us today. Dr. King’s dream echoes that of the Founders: "all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights that among them are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." King’s dream is rooted in the ideas of human equality, individual freedom, and the consent of the governed. These ideas depend on absolute truth and moral law, and they are supported and affirmed by religion and religious association. This dream, Dr. King's conservative message, is nearly lost amidst the worship of cultural diversity and moral relativism. It is still a dream worth pursuing.