MARTIN LUTHER KING JR: ALL MEANS ALL
“Now, we notice in the very beginning that at the center of this dream is an amazing universalism. It does not say some men, but it says all men. It does not say all white men, but it says all men, which includes Black men. It does not say all Gentiles, but it says all men, which includes Jews. It does not say all Protestants, but it says all men, which includes Catholics...”
— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., July 4, 1965
On July 4, 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reflected on what he called the “amazing universalism” at the center of the American dream.
The extraordinary word was all.
The Declaration of Independence did not proclaim that some people are created equal. King emphasized that the proposition was universal. Black and white. Jew and Gentile. Protestant and Catholic.
All means all.
The Democratic Creed begins with the same proposition:
“We believe all people are created equal, that this is America's fundamental ideal.”
Those words establish a standard against which everything that follows can be measured.
King observed that our fundamental rights are not created or conferred by government. They are inherent in us. Government does not decide which people possess human worth.
Every person already does.
That is why King found such profound meaning in the Declaration. He saw in it an affirmation of “the dignity and the worth of human personality.”
And that is why the Democratic Creed begins, but doesn’t end, with a declaration of equality. It goes on to assign government a duty: to strive endlessly to make Freedom, Justice, and Opportunity a reality for all.
Those final two words matter as much as the first two.
Not for some.
Not just for people who look like us, worship like us, agree with us, were born where we were born, or live as we live.
For all.
That is the extraordinary promise embedded in America's founding ideal.
And 250 years later, it remains an extraordinarily demanding one.
Quotation by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, from https://www.rev.com/transcripts/the-american-dream-july-4th-speech-transcript-martin-luther-king-jr (retrieved June 24, 2026)