REMARKS
Remarks
by President Trump at Signing of Proclamation to Honor Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr. Day
Issued on: January 12, 2018
Roosevelt Room
11:38 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT: I want to
thank Secretary Carson, along with Isaac Newton Farris, Jr., and the many
distinguished guests joining us here today. It’s a great honor.
Earlier this week, I had
the tremendous privilege to join Isaac and Alveda to sign into law legislation
re-designating the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site to the Martin
Luther King, Jr. National Historic Park. The new law expands the area to
protect it and historic sites for the future generations of Americans — are
becoming. So important. And this is a great honor for us and a great honor to
Dr. King.
Today, we gather in the
White House to honor the memory of a great American hero, the Reverend Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. On January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King was born in
Atlanta, Georgia. He would go on to change the course of human history.
As a young man, King decided
to follow the calling of his father and grandfather to become a Christian
pastor. He would later write that it was “quite easy for me to think of a God
of love, mainly because I grew up in a family where love was central.” That is
what Reverend King preached all his life: love — love for each other, for
neighbors, and for our fellow Americans.
Dr. King’s faith and his
love for humanity led him and so many other heroes to courageously stand up for
civil rights of African Americans. Through his bravery and sacrifice, Dr. King
opened the eyes and lifted the conscience of our nation. He stirred the hearts
of our people to recognize the dignity written in every human soul.
Today, we celebrate Dr.
King for standing up for the self-evident truth Americans hold so dear, that no
matter what the color of our skin or the place of our birth, we are all created
equal by God.
This April, we will mark a
half-century since Reverend King was so cruelly taken from us by an assassin’s
bullet. But while Dr. King is no longer with us, his words and his vision only
grow stronger through time. Today, we mourn his loss, we celebrate his legacy,
and we pledge to fight for his dream of equality, freedom, justice, and peace.
I will now sign the
proclamation making January 15, 2018 the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal
Holiday and encourage all Americans to observe this day with acts of civic work
and community service in honor of Dr. King’s extraordinary life — and it was
extraordinary indeed — and his great legacy.
Thank you. God bless you
all. And God bless America.
And with that, I’d like to
ask a great friend of mine, Secretary Carson, for remarks. Then we’re going to
be signing the very important proclamation. Thank you very much.
Ben.
SECRETARY CARSON: Thank
you, Mr. President. It’s an honor to be here today celebrating this solemn
occasion. And I thank you for signing legislation to designate the birthplace,
church, and tomb of Dr. Martin Luther King as a National Historic Park.
His monumental struggle for
civil rights earned these places in his life, faith, and death the same honor
as Mount Vernon and that famous humble log cabin in Illinois.
This April, we will observe
the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination. I remember so vividly that
day, as a high school student in Detroit. Far from silencing his dream, death
wrought him immortal in the American heart. His message of equality, justice,
and the common dignity of man resounds today, urgently needed to heal the
divisions of our age.
Today, we honor the legacy
of the man who marched on Washington for jobs and freedom, achieving both for
millions of Americans of all races and backgrounds. But his legacy also calls
us to remember where these ideas — equality, freedom, liberty — get their
power.
Our good efforts alone are
not enough to lend them meaning. For by what shall I be called equal to another
man? It cannot be by wealth, for there will always be one richer than me. It
cannot be by strength, for there will always be one stronger than me. It cannot
be by success or happiness or beauty or any other pieces of the human condition
which are distributed through providence. So perhaps providence alone is the
answer.
“We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and
the pursuit of Happiness.”
With these familiar words,
our Declaration of Independence recognizes the true author of our common
dignity — one that is beyond every human law and institution. If we forget this
source of our fundamental equality, then our fight to recognize it in our
society will never be fulfilled.
This is a truth that Dr.
King carried with him from Selma to Montgomery, from a pulpit in Atlanta to the
steps of the Lincoln Memorial, from a cell in Birmingham to the entire world.
This year, we will not
remember his slaying as the ending but as a beginning — as a moment when his
truth rose stronger than hatred, and his cause larger than death; as a moment
when he called to new life with his Creator, before whom all men shall one day
stand in equal rank bearing with them no riches but the content of their
character.
If we keep this conviction
at the center of our every word and action, if we look upon out countrymen as
brothers with a shared home and a common destination, then instead of
meaningless words rolling off of our tongue, we will truly create one nation,
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
And we’re going to have a
word from Pastor Isaac Newton Farris, the nephew of Dr. Martin Luther King.
(Applause.)
MR. FARRIS: President
Trump, Vice President Pence, and to all assembled here: If my uncle were here
today, the first thing he would say is, “What are we or what are you doing for
others?” And that’s why it was so important that my aunt, Coretta Scott King,
returned to the Congress, now about 10 years ago, and asked that the meaning of
the holiday be changed.
We did not want the King
holiday just to be a day of hero worship. As his nephew, I certainly think that
he was one of the greatest Americans that we have produced. But it should not
be a day of hero worship. And that’s why the Congress agreed with my aunt, and
also made it a day of service so that we, on that day — as a matter of fact, at
the King Center, we refer to it as “a day on, not a day off.”
It’s not a day to hang out
in the park or pull out the barbeque grill. (Laughter.) It’s a day to do
something to help someone else, and that can be as simple as delivering
someone’s trash or picking up the newspaper for that elderly person who can’t
get to the end of the driveway.
Bottom line: You’re doing
something that benefits someone other than yourself. That’s the proper way to
remember my uncle and the proper way to celebrate the King holiday.
So, President Trump, thank
you for taking the time to acknowledge this day. Thank you for remembering that
we’re all Americans and, on this day, we should be united and love for all
Americans.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Mr. Vice President. (Applause.)
THE PRESIDENT: This is a
great and important day. Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday 2018, by the
President of the United States of America, a proclamation. Congratulations to
him and to everybody.
[The proclamation is
signed.]
PARTICIPANT: Thank you, Mr.
President. (Applause.)
END
11:50 A.M. EST
__________________
President
Trump Signs MLK Day Proclamation President Trump signed a proclamation to honor
Martin Luther King Jr. day. The civil rights activist’s nephew and Housing and
Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson also spoke at the ceremony.
