The New York Republican Party sent out a statement today in honor of Martin Luther King  Day in which they recognize the slain civil rights leader for his “emphasis on personal responsibility, growth of small business and most importantly, the necessary work ethic to achieve the American dream.”

Those values, the GOP notes, “are all fundamental values of our Party,” but it is not clear they would be recognizable to Dr. King.  In fact, the Republican Party, once the party of African-Americans in the wake of the Civil War, began to lose support among blacks during the Civil Rights era when the sit-ins and Integration efforts were perceived as an affront to personal property and small business (along with states’ rights, of course.)  Read More