It was southern Dems that started the KKK, but I don't think MLK was a Republican.
Well, lets see,
You had Bob Byrd, Harry Truman..Both Members of the Klan.
George Wallace, Bull Connor, Al Gores dad. all voted against the civil Rights act.
What do all these men have in Common..all were Democrats...
Now you know the rest of the story....
Here you go people!!
The Republican Party was born in the early 1850's by anti-slavery activists and individuals who believed that government should grant western lands to settlers free of charge. The first informal meeting of the party took place in Ripon, Wisconsin, a small town northwest of Milwaukee. The first official Republican meeting took place on July 6th, 1854 in Jackson, Michigan. The name "Republican" was chosen because it alluded to equality and reminded individuals of Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party. At the Jackson convention, the new party adopted a platform and nominated candidates for office in Michigan.
In 1856, the Republicans became a national party when John C. Fremont was nominated for President under the slogan: "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont." Even though they were considered a "third party" because the Democrats and Whigs represented the two-party system at the time, Fremont received 33% of the vote. Four years later, Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican to win the White House.
The Civil War erupted in 1861 and lasted four grueling years. During the war, against the advice of his cabinet, Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation that freed the slaves. The Republicans of the day worked to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery, the Fourteenth, which guaranteed equal protection under the laws, and the Fifteenth, which helped secure voting rights for African-Americans.
The Republican Party also played a leading role in securing women the right to vote. In 1896, Republicans were the first major party to favor women's suffrage. When the 19th Amendment finally was added to the Constitution, 26 of 36 state legislatures that had voted to ratify it were under Republican control. The first woman elected to Congress was a Republican, Jeanette Rankin from Montana in 1917.
There was no republican party in the south during those years. I know because my mother helped to establish the republican party in Mississippi and she was a civil rights activist! I don't know the exact years, but it was during the worst of the worst and it was the democrat party that was supporting the clan. THAT IS A FACT!! I remember my late father teaching us all to shoot because he feared they would target our family. We got threatening phone calls from our neighbors and for awhile my Dad was pretty scared and begged my head strong mom to stop supporting the whole movement(Especially after those civil rights workers were killed in Mississippi). We were white folks supporting civil rights and the republican ticket and that was dangerous in Mississippi at the time. That was the fact on the ground at the time folks.
Of course he was, that's why Bobby Kennedy bugged his bedroom.
but I don't think MLK was a Republican.
He was a one point. His father was descended from Reconstruction Black Republicans. You know, the ones that the Democrats disenfranchised.