Martin Luther King Jr. Day

By: Miriam Edelman

Martin Luther King Jr. Day (the third Monday in January) memorializes civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King may be the most well known for his “I Have a Dream” speech, which is he gave in Washington, D.C., in 1963. In that speech, he discussed his desire for a U.S. without segregation and racism.

Dr. King supported Washington, D.C.’s attempts to secure home rule, recommending that African-American Washingtonians hold an “all-out nonviolent movement for home rule.” In 1965, he marched with the hopes of creating home rule for the District of Columbia. In a demonstration, he thanked President Lyndon B. Johnson for supporting a bill that would grant home rule to the U.S.’s capital. He said that he would urge people to protest if Congress did not work on the bill during the subsequent few weeks.

Washington, D.C., is a major African-American city. In 1957, Washington, D.C., made history when it became the U.S.’s first major city to have a majority African-American population. In 2011, D.C. lost its African-American majority, but the city still had a plurality African-American population. All of D.C.’s Mayors since D.C. gained its limited home rule have been African-American.

Dr. King tied D.C.’s population’s racial demographics to the ability of D.C. residents to vote:

“You don't have freedom in Washington because you can't vote [except in national elections]. If you don't know why they don't want you to vote, I'll tell you. It's because the District of Columbia is 55 to 60 per cent Negro, and they know you will elect some Negroes to high public office.”

Dr. King’s comment is echoed in the report “Democracy Deferred: Race, Politics, and D.C.’s Two-Century Struggle for Full Voting Rights.” The report stated, “For nearly a century, the fear of Black political power played a significant role in defeating repeated attempts to win home rule and congressional representation for D.C. voters.”

D.C. supporters have tied Martin Luther King Jr. with efforts to advance D.C. statehood. On January 18, 2021, Maria Manuela Goyanes and Emika Abe (Artistic Director and Managing Director, respectively, of the Woolly Mammoth Theatre) wrote an “MLK Statement’ to “friends, colleagues, and the entire performing arts industry,” linking the federal holiday with D.C. statehood. After writing that Dr. King had spoken “out against the lack of freedom and democracy in the District of Columbia,” the letter’s authors discussed D.C. statehood:

“Prior to moving to Washington, DC, we were unaware of the struggles residents here face. Not being recognized as a state has real impacts on our governmental representation, financial independence, and safety. Our learnings include:”

“• Our population exceeds that of the states of Wyoming and Vermont, yet we are not able to elect voting representatives to Congress. DC residents do pay federal taxes, which led the populace to re-adopt a slogan that originated during the American Revolution: ‘End taxation without representation.’ It is also worth noting that a majority of the DC population identifies as Black.”

“• DC does not have true local self-government. The Constitution gives Congress exclusive legislative authority over DC. They have the power to review and modify DC’s local budget and annul any law they do not agree with.”

“• State governors have the power to mobilize national guards, a power denied to the Mayor of DC, who must make that request of the President.”

“• DC functions as a state, including administering driver licensure, workers’ and unemployment compensation, food and drug inspection, operating a District police force, and a District school system. DC is treated as a state in over 500 federal laws but those responsibilities do not come with the rights  of a state.”

“These are just a few of the examples that are specific to DC. Many more inequities exist for the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.”

“Please know that this is about more than adding two Senators and voting representation in the House of Representatives. This is about equal representation for over 705,749 U.S. Citizens*. This is about the ability to feel safe in our home.”

“We ask you to join us in the movement for DC Statehood”

On Martin Luther King Day in 2022, hundreds marched for “voting rights and D.C. statehood.” Alisha McLeish, a member of the MLK Holiday DC committee that was the 16^th Annual Peace Walk’s main sponsor, said, “[w]e want the Senate and the White House to work together to pass voting rights legislation and D.C. statehood.” At the podium, Yolanda King stated, “[w]e will get these bills passed.” According to rsn.org, Martin Lither King III, Dr. King’s oldest son, and others “said they couldn’t advocate for voting rights without including a call to give the District voting representation in Congress.”

On January 20, 2025, the office of Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) issued a press release, entitled “On MLK Day, Norton Calls on Congress to Pass D.C. Statehood and Other Voting Rights Legislation.” The release quoted Norton:

“Dr. King spent his life advocating for voting rights for the most disenfranchised members in our society.”

“His support for home rule for D.C is particularly relevant to remember now, when Republicans in Congress have introduced bills to overturn the Home Rule Act. Dr. King’s efforts advocating for voting rights led to passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, allowing people of color to exercise their franchise in states with chronic histories of enacting restrictive voting laws.”

As the U.S. turns 250 years old soon, let’s honor Dr. King by granting D.C. statehood. Its residents deserve nothing less. As Norton said in 2025, “Dr. King's birthday is not only for commemoration of past victories. His birthday should inspire Congress to complete the nation's work on civil rights, including by making D.C. the 51st state.”