This is another holiday week. While many may have moved on, I opted not
to. I attended an MLK, Jr. Holiday
Observance in a neighboring community.
The program included public officials, minsters, choirs, teachers,
students, a genuinely engaged crowd, and a personal friend who delivered the
public address. It was a day that appropriately memorialized many of the ideals
for which Dr. King surrendered his life.
I must note at first blush I was a little surprised that of the hand full
of students who were afforded the opportunity to read their essays, none were
people of color. As an aside, one of two students unable to attend the event
had an Indian (as in India) surname, so perhaps… However, upon further
contemplation, I concluded, if King’s aims are ever fully achieved, the deftness
of the students’ writing skill and the content of their character should supersede
the color of their skin. At any rate, in
as much as I didn’t read the essays, I’m going to give the teachers and
administrators a pass.
In reflecting on the many works of Dr. Martin Luther King, I decided to
revisit a post I wrote in 2011 that examined both the advent of the King
Holiday, and at the time, a controversy in local and nearby school
systems. It’s been 6 years since that
fateful snowstorm, 31 years since the initial observance of the King Holiday,
and 34 years since President Reagan signed the MLK, Jr. Holiday bill into law.
Now seems an apt time to take a look into the rear view mirror of time.
Monday was
the 25th Anniversary of the initial observance of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. Holiday (MLK DAY). After
a quarter century of inculcation into
the very fabric of our society, it may be largely forgotten that the conceptualization,
submission and continual resubmission of the idea, the enactment, and the
gradual national observance, was not the product of universal acceptance of a
grand and enlightened concept, but rather, was emblematic of
the civil rights struggle itself; steeped in controversy, and the eventual
victory of a relentless movement to achieve richly deserved, and long overdue
social justice.
Several members of Congress, and a number of states,
and even a President, using a host of creative means, sought to undermine,
outmaneuver, sabotage, subvert, and otherwise derail the efforts of the
measure’s proponents. Ultimately, the movement was
consolidated, snowballed, and would simply not be denied.
The effort to create a King Holiday was
started by U.S. Representative John Conyers, Michigan, shortly after Dr. King’s
death, in the spring of 1968. It was first introduced in the House of
Representatives in 1979, but fell 5 votes short of the number
for passage in the Lower Chamber.
High profile opponents to the measure included Senator Jesse Helms, NC, Senator John McCain, AZ, and
President Ronald Reagan.
Both Senators voted against the bill, and Senator McCain publicly
supported Arizona Governor Evan Mecham for
his rescission of MLK
Day as a State Holiday in Arizona. The campaign however,
reached a critical mass in the early 1980’s. Spurred on by Stevie Wonder
penning a song in King’s honor called, “Happy Birthday,” a
petition drive to support the campaign would attract over 6 million signatures.
It has been called the largest petition in favor of an issue in U.S. History.
Buttressed by what had become a wildly successful
public campaign, Congress soon followed suit. The proposal passed in the
House by a vote of 338-90, and in the Upper Chamber by a
vote of 78-22. Given the dimensions of this overwhelming support, in the
form of bicameral veto-proof
votes, President Reagan signed the provision November 2, 1983,
and it became Federal Law. The first observance under the new law took
place January 20, 1986, rather than on January 15th, Dr.
King’s birthday. A compromise in the legislation specified that the
observance take place on the Third Monday in January, consistent with prior legislation (Uniform Monday Holiday Act).
Of course, that was not the end of the story. It
would actually take more than 30 years after Dr. King’s death before the
Holiday was fully adopted and observed in all 50 states. Illinois
holds the distinction of being the first State to adopt MLK Day as a
State Holiday, having done so in 1973. Twenty years later, in 1993,
for the first time, some form of MLK Day was held in each of the 50
States. It was not until 2000 that South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges
signed a bill to make MLK Day a paid holiday for State employees;
giving the Palmetto State the dubious distinction of being the last of
the 50 States to do so. However, Mississippi also sets itself
apart by designating the Third Monday in January as a shared Holiday
that honors the memory of Robert E. Lee and Dr.
King…two fine southern gentlemen.
So with that extensive preamble, I give you the
issue of the day. This year, the convergence of a series of perfect winter storm
systems bludgeoned the South and Eastern United States during the
weeks leading up to the King Holiday. Part of the collateral damage
emanating from these storms was widespread school closings, especially in the
South, including parts of Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina,
and North Carolina.
In an effort to reformat the remainder of the school
year, while minimizing overall disruption to School Calendars, a number
of School Administrators discussed, and/or chose to eliminate the MLK
Holiday, and program the day as a school “Make-up Day.” The ensuing
conversations, especially those that lead to decisions to cancel the Holiday
proved to be controversial and highly charged. It does not help that in many Southern
school districts, there has been a level of retrenchment that
many parents, families, and human rights organizations believe is tantamount to re-segregating the
districts.
So I ask you, “What Would Martin Do?” (WWMD?)
I am not going to indulge in intellectual hubris,
and pretend I know the answer to the aforementioned query. Instead, I will
apply a couple of basic pragmatic considerations, and share my version of
common sense. First, it is no secret; the efficacy of
the American Education System is in question. By most accounts, American
students, our children, are in trouble. A web search of “Shortcomings of the
American Educational System”
yields 28, 400,000 results. Do not worry I am not about to recount them
for you.
The point is from the White House, to the State
House, to the School House, the calls for reforming the American
System of Education resound clearly, loudly, and incessantly. Almost every
depiction of what is required for America to regain its mojo and
reach its potential includes some version of enhancing the level and quality of
education that we provide to our students.
In that light, I believe we are missing, not only
the larger point, but we are also missing a unique opportunity, if we allow
ourselves to get “stuck,” quibbling over the alleged unfairness,
inequality, or racial bias of administrators having declared MLK
Day a school day. Even “if,” any or all of those notions were
accurate, and I am not certain they were, our forbears prided themselves
in rising above those challenges, and excelling in spite of them. Given
all of our advantages, relative to our ancestors, it is incumbent upon us to do
the same…and more!
We should have leveraged the construct of MLK
Day as a Day of Service, and enhanced it to make it a Day of
Service and Education. There are many studies that suggest
the longer students stay away from their regular studies and study habits, the
more ground they lose. Has it not occurred to anyone that such a result is the very
last thing we, or they, need? It was both important, and apropos to
have school on MLK Day because that was the next “First Day Available”
to conduct the Make-up Day. By taking advantage of that option, the
students, for whom education is designed, and whom should derive the greatest
direct benefit, receive the highest and best use from a necessary evil;
the inclusion of a Make-up Day. Naturally, all of society reaps the
rewards of their immediate increased potential.
Since I am not a medium or a spiritualist,
I do not profess to have conducted a séance with
Dr. King; nor am I an educator, and I have not polled teachers or
administrators. I am just a guy who is a perpetual student…of life, and that is
how I see it. So if you were to ask me, “WWMD? (Reprised '17),” My answer is, in
his most Reverend voice, Dr. King would implore us not
to get “stuck,” quibbling over the alleged unfairness, inequality,
or racial bias of administrators having declared MLK Day a school
day. He would add, “I Have A Dream"
that one day, down in Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina,
and North Carolina, black boys and black girls will join
with white boys and white girls, and with Latino boys and Latina
girls, and with Asian boys and Asian girls, and they will all get
the quality education that they deserve, irrespective of their color, or
their culture, or whether January 17th is a School “Make-up
Day.” That was my take then and now. What's yours?
I’m done; holla back!
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