Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

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Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1964
Official name Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Observed by United States
Type National
Date The Third Monday in January
2009 date January 19
2010 date January 18

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a United States holiday marking the birthdate of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr., observed on the third Monday of January each year, around the time of King's birthday, January 15. It is one of three United States federal holidays to commemorate an individual person.[1]

King was the chief spokesman of the nonviolent civil rights movement, which successfully protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. He was assassinated in 1968.

The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon after his assassination. Ronald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed in 1986. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. It was officially observed in all 50 states for the first time in 2000.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was founded as a holiday promoted by labor unions in contract negotiations.[2] After King's death, United States Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan) introduced a bill in Congress to make King's birthday a national holiday. The bill first came to a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1979. However, it fell five votes short of the number needed for passage.[3] Two of the main arguments mentioned by opponents were that a paid holiday for federal employees would be too expensive, and that a holiday to honor a private citizen would be contrary to longstanding tradition (King had never held public office).[3] Soon after, The King Center turned to support from the corporate community and the general public. The success of this strategy was cemented when musician Stevie Wonder released the single "Happy Birthday" to popularize the campaign in 1980 and hosted the Rally for Peace Press Conference in 1981. Six million signatures were collected for a petition to Congress to pass the law, termed by a 2006 article in The Nation as "the largest petition in favor of an issue in U.S. history."[2]

At the White House Rose Garden on November 2, 1983, United States President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday to honor King.[4][5] It was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986.

The bill established the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission to oversee observance of the holiday, and Coretta Scott King was made a member of this commission for life by United States President George H. W. Bush in May, 1989.[6][7]

President George H. W. Bush signs Martin Luther King Day Proclamation[8]

Contents

[edit] Reluctance to observe day

Senator Jesse Helms (R-North Carolina) led opposition to the bill and questioned whether King was important enough to receive such an honor. He also criticized King's opposition to the Vietnam War and accused him of espousing "action-oriented Marxism".[9]

Ronald Reagan was also opposed to the holiday, citing cost concerns.[10] He threatened to veto the King Day bill but recanted after Congress passed it with an overwhelming veto-proof majority (338 to 90 in the House of Representatives and 78 to 22 in the Senate).[11]

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) voted against the creation of the holiday to honor King, and later defended Arizona Republican Governor Evan Mecham's rescinding of the state holiday in honor of King created by his Democratic predecessor. After his opposition grew increasingly untenable, McCain reversed his position, and encouraged his home state of Arizona to recognize the holiday despite opposition from Mecham.[12]

In 1990, The Arizonans were given the opportunity to vote to observe an MLK holiday. McCain successfully appealed to former President Ronald Reagan to support the holiday.[13] Prior to that date, New Hampshire and Arizona had not observed the day. Throughout the 1990s, this was heavily criticized. Following the failure of the 1990 proposition to recognize the holiday in Arizona, the National Football League moved Super Bowl XXVII from Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.[14] The hip-hop group Public Enemy recorded a song titled "By The Time I Get To Arizona", on their 1991 album Apocalypse 91... The Enemy Strikes Black, in which they describe assassinating Arizona Governor Fife Symington III for his opposition to the holiday.

On May 2, 2000, South Carolina governor Jim Hodges signed a bill to make Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday an official state holiday. South Carolina was the last state to recognize the day as a paid holiday for all state employees. Prior to this, employees could choose between celebrating Martin Luther King Day or one of three Confederate holidays.[15]

There have also been supportive voices of King who argue that the national observance of his birthday actually domesticates his message.[16] They suggest that by honoring him it enables the American people to forget how subversive he really was, and, therefore, they want a return to the serious implications of King's desire for a complete revolution.[17]

Overall, in 2007, 33% of employers gave employees the day off, a 2% increase over the previous year. There was little difference in observance by large and small employers: 33% for firms with over 1,000 employees; and, 32% for firms with under 1,000 employees. The observance is most popular amongst nonprofit organizations and least popular among factories and manufacturers.[18] The reasons for this have varied, ranging from the recent addition of the holiday (each year more businesses are closed than the year before, although often those that do choose to close "make it up" by no longer closing for Presidents Day) to its occurrence just two weeks after the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, when many businesses are closed for part or sometimes all of the week. Additionally, many schools and places of higher education are closed for classes; others remain open but may hold seminars or celebrations of Dr. King's message.

[edit] Alternative names

While all states now observe the holiday, some did not name the day after King.

In Utah, the holiday was known as "Human Rights Day" until the year 2000,[19] when the Utah State Legislature voted to change the name of the holiday from Human Rights Day to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. In that same year Governor Michael O. Leavitt signed the bill officially naming the holiday "Martin Luther King, Jr. Day".[20][19]

In Virginia, it was known as Lee-Jackson-King Day.[19][21] The incongruous nature of the holiday, which simultaneously celebrated the lives of Confederate Army generals and a civil rights icon, did not escape the notice of Virginia lawmakers. In 2000, a Martin Luther King Day was established in Virginia.[22]

In Arizona and New Hampshire, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is known as "Martin Luther King Day".[23][24]

[edit] King Day of Service

The national Martin Luther King Day of Service was started by former Pennsylvania U.S. Senator Harris Wofford and Atlanta Congressman John Lewis, who co-authored the King Holiday and Service Act. The federal legislation challenges Americans to transform the King Holiday into a day of citizen action volunteer service in honor of Dr. King. The federal legislation was signed into law by President Bill Clinton on August 23, 1994. Since 1996, the annual Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service[1] has been the largest event in the nation honoring Dr. King.[25]

[edit] Outside the US

One place where this day is observed as important is in the Japanese city of Hiroshima under mayor Tadatoshi Akiba, who holds a special banquet at the mayor's office as an act of unifying his city's call for peace with King's message of human rights.[26][27]

[edit] References

  1. ^ The other two federal holidays honoring individuals are Washington's Birthday (often called President's Day) and Columbus Day. See 5 USC 6103.
  2. ^ a b "Working-Class Hero", William P. Jones, The Nation, January 5, 2006
  3. ^ a b Wolfensberger, Don. "The Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday: The Long Struggle in Congress, An Introductory Essay", Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2008-01-14).
  4. ^ "Ronald Reagan: Remarks on Signing the Bill Making the Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., a National Holiday". The American Presidency Project. 1983-11-02. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=40708. Retrieved on 2008-04-04. 
  5. ^ Pub.L. 98-399, 98 Stat. 1475, enacted November 2, 1983
  6. ^ "George Bush: Remarks on Signing the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday Commission Extension Act". The American Presidency Project. 1989-05-17. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=17040. Retrieved on 2008-04-04. 
  7. ^ Pub.L. 101-30, 103 Stat. 60, enacted May 17, 1989
  8. ^ "George Bush: Remarks on Signing the Martin Luther King, Jr., Federal Holiday Proclamation in Atlanta, Georgia". The American Presidency Project. 1992-01-17. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=20487. Retrieved on 2008-04-04. 
  9. ^ Helms Stalls King's Day In Senate
  10. ^ Helms Stalls King's Day In Senate
  11. ^ Righting Reagan's Wrongs
  12. ^ Tapper, Jake. "The Complicated History of John McCain and MLK Day", ABC News (2008-04-03)
  13. ^ A bill to amend title 5, United States Code, to make the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., a legal public holiday, Library of Congress.
  14. ^ Passing the King holiday in Arizona - proposal to celebrate Martin Luther King Day | Campaigns & Elections | Find Articles at BNET.com
  15. ^ Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday
  16. ^ cf. Vincent Harding's article in Jim Wallis & Joyce Holliday's Cloud of Witnesses (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2006), 81-89.
  17. ^ http://www.christianethicstoday.com/cetart/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.main&ArtID=922
  18. ^ BNA - More Employers Plan to Observe Martin Luther King Day
  19. ^ a b c "The MLK holiday: Branches work to make it work". The New Crisis. May-June 2000. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3812/is_200005/ai_n8878893?tag=content;col1. Retrieved on 2008-11-12. 
  20. ^ S.B. 121 Bill Documents - 2000 General Session
  21. ^ "Lee-Jackson Day is a Lexington, Va. tradition and an event to experience". Shenandoah Valley.com. http://shenandoahvalley.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=230&Itemid=1. Retrieved on 2008-11-12. 
  22. ^ "Virginia creates holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.". On the Lege. 2000-04-10. http://www.has.vcu.edu/mac/cns/on-the-lege-2000/holiday.htm. Retrieved on 2008-11-12. 
  23. ^ CHAPTER 288 HOLIDAYS
  24. ^ Format Document
  25. ^ Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service
  26. ^ http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/shimin/heiwa/martin.html
  27. ^ http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/news/content/news/stories/2008/011809_web_mlk_2.html
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