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. I have a dream today.
Rev.. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963
Practical equality of opportunity for all citizens, when we achieve it, will have two great results. First, every man will have a fair chance to make of himself all that in him lies; to reach the highest point to which his capacities, unassisted by special privilege of his own,and unhampered by the special privilege of others, can carry him, and can get for himself and his family substantially what he has earned. Second, equality of opportunity means that the commonwealth will get from every citizen the highest service of which he is capable. No man who carries the burden of the special privilege of others can give to the commonwealth all that service to which it is fairly entitled.
Theodore Roosevelt, The New Nationalism, August 31 1910
Two great speeches by two great Americans, given almost 53 years to the day apart, on the significance of the struggle for equality to the preservation of the America Dream and of America itself. Dr, King appealed to the morality of the dream of equal opportunity and TR emphasized how it is not simply a good idea, but also crucial to our success as a nation. As we celebrate Dr. King’s birthday, American nationalists should remember both these calls and seek to inspire all of us to continue the hard work to achieve his dream.