7C
MLK/The Charlotte Post
Thursday, January 16,1997
Holiday’s origin was overdue
This is an abridged version of an article that
appeared in The Seattle Times on Martin Luther
King Jr.’s birthday in 1985 - a year before the first
celebration of the holiday in his honor.
By Paul Andrews
THE SEATTLE TIMES
The Rev. Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr., who
knew it takes time for
attitudes to change,
would not have been
surprised that nearly
two decades were
required to make his
birthday a legal hoh-
day.
If anything. King,
whose magnificent
dream always had a
pragmatic cast, would
have been surprised
that it has happened
at all.
Even putting aside
King’s controversial
career and his minori
ty race, the odds
against the new holi
day were imposing.
The argiunents oppos
ing it - cost to taxpay
ers, singling him out
over others -have been
used for decades to
resist creation of any
new holiday.
HIS BIRTHDAY IS
TODAY. The official
holiday, on the third
Monday of January,
begins next year. To
place the new date in
some perspective, con
sider:
It is the first new hol
iday since 1948, when
Memorial Day was cre
ated as a “prayer for
peace” day. And it’s
only the third this cen
tury (the other is
Veterans Day, created
as Armistice Day in
1926 to honor those
who died in World War
I). King is the only
American besides
George Washington to
have a national holi
day designated for his
birthday (those of
Abraham Lincoln,
Thomas Jefferson,
Robert E. Lee and oth
ers have been celebrat
ed in some states but
not nationwide).
Internationally, King
is one of the few social
leaders of any country
to be honored with a
holiday (Mahatma
Gandhi’s birthday is
observed in India).
Such status by a mem
ber of a country’s
racial minority is
almost unheard of.
Generally, the honor is
reserved for
military or religious
figures.
Given such obstacles,
the holiday is a power
ful tribute to King’s
philosophy and
stature.
“As is usually the
case with great fig
ures, particularly con
troversial ones who
are fighting for a phi
losophy condemned by
many. Dr. King was
well ahead of his
time,” says Joseph
Lowery, King’s con
temporary counterpart
as president of the
Southern Christian
Leadership
Conference in Atlanta.
“Even those very much
opposed to him during
his lifetime have come
to see that segrega
tion, injustice and mil
itarism are concerns
which must be
addressed by modem
society.”
When President
Reagan signed legisla
tion creating the hoU-
day in November 1983,
it marked the end of a
persistent, highly
organized lobb5dng
effort spanning the
nation for 15 years.
“We worked hard to
put together a national
effort and make a pow-
eiTul network,” recalls
Cedric Hendricks, leg
islative aide to Rep.
John Conyers,
Michigan Democrat. It
was Conyers who, 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 ses
sion.
The Southern
Christian Leadership
Conference, which
coordinated the peti
tion campaign, also
kept continuous pres
sure on Congress for
the holiday. Mass
marches in 1982 for
voting rights and 1983
to mark the 20th
anniversary of King’s
dramatic speech in
Washington, D.C., also
contributed.
It took bipartisan
support to overcome
See HOLIDAY page 8C
Birth^y
JDr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
MCNAIR’S
Glass Service
WE COMETO YOU
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...A Voracious Reader
...A Bible Scholar
...A Nobel Peace Prize Winner
...A Champion of Civil Rights
...A Champion of Human Rights
...A Catalyst for an
International Movement
...A Man Who Shared His Dream...
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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1929 -1968
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