Dr. Martin Luther King Day by Santa Ynez Valley Holiday Historian, John Copeland Jan 2014 Tomorrow is Martin Luther King Day. It is a great example of how cultures establish holidays to celebrate, not only the lives of people that are important to a society, but ideas as well. As a relatively new federal holiday and there are few long standing traditions. Dr. Martin Luther King Day is the first new holiday since 1948, when Memorial Day was made a national holiday as a day to remember all men and women in the military who died serving our country. Its only the third holiday added this century (the other is Veterans Day, originally created as Armistice Day in 1926, but now honors all veterans). King is the only American besides George Washington to have his birthday designated as a national holiday. Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, Robert E. Lee and others birthdays have been celebrated in some states but not as a national holidays. The only other person honored with a national holiday in the United States is Christopher Columbus, which in recent times has itself become controversial. Not specifically patriotic or religious, the Dr. King holiday does not fit any traditional category. Internationally, Dr. King is one of the few social leaders of any country to be honored with a holiday (Mahatma Gandhis birthday is observed in India). Such status by a member of a countrys racial minority is almost unheard of. Generally, the honor is reserved for military or religious figures. We remember Dr. King as a leader in the movement to end racial segregation in the United States. He was an advocate of non-violent protest and became the youngest man to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The campaign for a federal holiday in Kings honor began soon after his assassination 1968. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., knew it takes time for attitudes to change. He would not have been surprised that it took nearly two decades to make his birthday a legal holiday. If anything, Dr. King, whose magnificent dream always has a pragmatic cast, would have been surprised that it has happened at all. Even putting aside Kings controversial career in the civil rights movement, the odds against the new holiday were imposing. The arguments opposing it — cost to taxpayers, singling him out over others -- have been used for decades to resist creation of any new holiday. Given such obstacles, the holiday is a powerful tribute to Kings philosophy and stature. Michigan Democrat, Rep. John Conyers, four days after King was assassinated in Memphis, submitted the first legislation to commemorate his birthday. Petitions carrying more than 6 million signatures — said to be the largest petition drive in history — were submitted to Congress in 1970. With help from New York Democratic Rep. Shirley Chisholm, Conyers resubmitted the legislation during each congressional session. Arguments concerning money dominated opposition to the holiday. Costs associated with government offices and services not operating on the King holiday were estimated at an astronomical $8 billion for government and private sector combined. Most holiday proposals meet with strong opposition, particularly today. Just about every constituency has a day it would like to commemorate. Feminists have long fought for a Susan B. Anthony Day on the suffragists birthday February 15th. The Irish would prefer to have St. Patricks Day off, the Finns St. Urhos Day (March 16th). Tree lovers and environmentalists make a case for Arbor Day to be an official holiday. While legislation supporting these holidays has never gotten beyond the lip-service stage, special interests have created a number of holidays that are not universally observed. Longshoremen, for instance, take off Harry Bridges birthday to honor the popular labor leader. In the south, Robert E. Lees birthday has long been observed by various states on the third Monday of January. This creates an interesting historical contradiction for those that, like Virginia, have added the observance of Dr. Kings birthday to that date as well. Ultimately, what may have sealed approval of the holiday was a compromise offered by Indiana Democrat, Rep. Katie Hall, marshalled support in the House for the legislation. Hall, responding to criticism that the holiday would be too close to the Christmas-New Years week, moved its observance to the third Monday of the month. The notion of a three-day weekend, plus the fact that the third Monday often follows Super Bowl Sunday, helped put the measure over the top. When President Reagan signed legislation creating the holiday in November 1983, it marked the end of a persistent, highly organized lobbying effort spanning the nation for 15 years and it was first observed on January 20, 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. Given such obstacles, the holiday is a powerful tribute to Kings philosophy and stature. Nationally, as a holiday, it is less than 15 years old. Traditions and observances are still being established. Many religious leaders, of all ethnicities, hope it will become a deeply spiritual day, devoted to some activity which expresses love of our fellow person, or spiritual recognition of some kind. In recent years, federal legislation has encouraged Americans to give some of their time on this day as volunteers in citizen action groups. 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. Its a day when we can honor Dr. Kings principles, which are really American principles in their truest form. No matter how you feel about the holiday, it shouldnt be a holiday where we all go fishing. I think it will be very interesting to see how it is observed, say, fifty years from now. ___________________ John Copeland A friend will always bail you out of jail, but a true friend will be there sitting next to you saying, Damn that was fun.
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 03:10:48 +0000
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