Martin Luther King Jr. Day (officiallyBirthday of Martin Luther King Jr.,[1] and often referred to shorthand asMLK Day) is afederal holiday in the United States observed on the third Monday of January each year. King was the chief spokesperson fornonviolent activism in theCivil Rights Movement, which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law and civil society. The movement led to several groundbreaking legislative reforms in the United States.
Born in 1929,Martin Luther King Jr.'s actual birthday is January 15 (which in 1929 fell on a Tuesday). The earliest Monday for this holiday is January 15 and the latest is January 21. The Monday observance is similar for those federal holidays which fall under theUniform Monday Holiday Act.
The campaign for a federal holiday in King's honor began soon afterhis assassination in 1968. PresidentRonald Reagan signed the holiday into law in 1983, and it was first observed three years later on January 20, 1986. At first, some states resisted observing the holiday as such, giving it alternative names or combining it with other holidays. Official observance in each state's law as well as federal law occurred in 2000.
Sign (1969) promoting a holiday on the anniversary of King's deathRonald Reagan andCoretta Scott King at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day signing ceremony
The initial idea of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday was promoted bylabor unions in contract negotiations.[2] After King's death, RepresentativeJohn Conyers[3] (a Democrat fromMichigan) and SenatorEdward Brooke (a Republican fromMassachusetts) introduced a bill in Congress to make King's birthday a national/official holiday. The bill first came to a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1979. It fell five votes short of the number needed for passage.[4] 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).[4] Only two other figures have national holidays in the U.S. honoring them:George Washington andChristopher Columbus.
Soon after, theKing Center turned to support from the corporate community and the general public. The success of this strategy was cemented when musicianStevie 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 inThe Nation as "the largest petition in favor of an issue in U.S. history".[2]
SenatorsJesse Helms andJohn Porter East (bothNorth CarolinaRepublicans) led the opposition to the holiday and questioned whether King was important enough to receive such an honor. Helms criticized King's opposition to theVietnam War and accused him of espousing "action-orientedMarxism".[5] Helms led afilibuster against the bill and on October 3, 1983, submitted a 300-page document to the Senate alleging that King had associations withcommunists. Democratic New York SenatorDaniel Patrick Moynihan declared Helms' document a "packet of filth", threw it on the Senate floor, and stomped on it.[6][7]
PresidentRonald Reagan initially opposed the establishment of the holiday, stating in a letter to former New Hampshire governorMeldrim Thomson that he believed the momentum for establishing it to be "based on an image, not reality."[8] When asked to comment on Helms' accusations that King was a communist, the president said "We'll know in thirty-five years, won't we", referring to the eventual release ofFBI surveillance tapes that had previously beensealed.[9] But on November 2, 1983, Reagan signed a bill into law, proposed byRepresentative Katie Hall of Indiana, to create a federal holiday honoring King.[10][11] The final vote in theHouse of Representatives on August 2, 1983, was 338–90 (242–4 in theHouse Democratic Caucus and 89–77 in theHouse Republican Conference) with 5 members voting present or abstaining,[12][5] while the final vote in the Senate on October 19, 1983, was 78–22 (41–4 in theSenate Democratic Caucus and 37–18 in theSenate Republican Conference),[13][14] bothveto-proof margins. The holiday was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986.[11] It is observed on the third Monday of January.[15]
The bill also established the "Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission"[11] to oversee observance of the holiday, andCoretta Scott King, King's wife, was made a member of this commission for life by PresidentGeorge H. W. Bush in May 1989.[16][17]
Although the federal holiday honoring King was signed into law in 1983 and took effect three years later, not every U.S. state chose to observe the January holiday at the state level[3] until 1991, when theNew Hampshire legislature created "Civil Rights Day" and abolished its April "Fast Day".[18] In 1999,New Hampshire became the last state to name a holiday after King, which they first celebrated in January 2000 – the first nationwide celebration of the day with this name.[19]
In 1986, ArizonaGovernorBruce Babbitt, a Democrat, created a paid state MLK holiday in Arizona by executive order just before he left office, but in 1987, his Republican successorEvan Mecham, citing an attorney general's opinion that Babbitt's order was illegal, reversed Babbitt's decision days after taking office.[20] Later that year, Mecham proclaimed the third Sunday in January to be "Martin Luther King Jr./Civil Rights Day" in Arizona, albeit as an unpaid holiday. This proposal was rejected by the state Senate the following year.[21] In 1990, Arizona voters were given the opportunity to vote on giving state employees a paid MLK holiday. That same year, theNational Football League threatened to moveSuper Bowl XXVII, which was planned for Arizona in 1993, if the MLK holiday was voted down.[22] In the November 1990 election, the voters were offered two King Day options: Proposition 301, which replacedColumbus Day on the list of paid state holidays, and Proposition 302, which mergedLincoln's andWashington's birthdays into one paid holiday to make room for MLK Day. Both measures failed to pass, with only 49% of voters approving Prop 302, the more popular of the two options; although some who voted "no" on 302 voted "yes" on Prop 301.[23] Consequently, the state lost the chance to host Super Bowl XXVII, which was subsequently held at theRose Bowl inPasadena, California.[22] In a 1992 referendum, the voters, this time given only one option for a paid King Day, approved state-level recognition of the holiday.[24]
On May 2, 2000, South Carolina governorJim Hodges signed a bill to make King's birthday an official state holiday. South Carolina was the last state to recognize the day as a paid holiday for all state employees. Before the bill, employees could choose between celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day or one of threeConfederate holidays.[25]
While all states now observe the holiday, some did not name the day after King. For example, in New Hampshire, the holiday was known as "Civil Rights Day" until 1999, when the State Legislature voted to change the name of the holiday to Martin Luther King Day.[26]
Several additional states have chosen to combine commemorations of King's birthday with other observances:
InArizona: "Martin Luther King Jr./Civil Rights Day".[28]
InArkansas: it was known as "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday andRobert E. Lee's Birthday" from 1985 to 2017. Legislation in March 2017 changed the name of the state holiday to "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday" and moved the commemoration of Lee to October.
InVirginia: it was known asLee–Jackson–King Day, combining King's birthday with the establishedLee–Jackson Day.[32] In 2000, Lee–Jackson Day was moved to the Friday before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, establishing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday in its own right.[33] Lee-Jackson Day was eliminated in 2020.[34]
InWyoming: it is known as "Martin Luther King Jr./Wyoming Equality Day".Liz Byrd, the first black woman in the Wyoming legislature, introduced a bill in 1991 for Wyoming to recognize MLK day as a paid state holiday; she compromised on the name because her peers would not pass it otherwise.[35]
Overall, as of 2019, 45% of employers gave employees the day off.[36][unreliable source?] The reasons for not providing the day off have varied, ranging from the recent addition of the holiday to its occurrence just two weeks after the week betweenChristmas andNew Year's Day, when many businesses are closed for part or all of it. TheNew York Stock Exchange andNASDAQ both close for trading, and banks are generally closed. Additionally, many schools and places of higher education are closed for classes; others remain open but may hold seminars or celebrations of King's message. The observance of MLK Day has led to some colleges and universities extending their Christmas break to include the day as part of the break. Some employers use MLK Day as afloating or movable holiday.[37]
PresidentBarack Obama serving lunch at a Washington soup kitchen on MLK Jr. Day, 2010
The national "Martin Luther King, Jr., National Day of Service"[38] was started by former Pennsylvania U.S. SenatorHarris Wofford and Atlanta CongressmanJohn 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 actionvolunteer service in honor of King. The federal legislation was signed into law byPresident Bill Clinton on August 23, 1994. Since 1996, Wofford's former state office director,Todd Bernstein, has been directing the annual Greater Philadelphia King Day of Service,[39] the largest event in the nation honoring King.[40]
Since 1994, the day of service has been coordinated nationally byAmeriCorps, a federal agency, which providesgrants to organizations that coordinate service activities on MLK Day.[41]
Cesar Chavez campaigned with him to call attention to the economic needs offarmworkers in the United States.[43] Chavez used his speech on this day in 1990 to again call attention to the similarity between his campaign regardingpesticide issues and King's campaigns.[43] He later was honored with the creation ofCesar Chavez Day in imitation of this holiday.[44]
In 1984, during a visit by theU.S. Sixth Fleet,Navy chaplain RabbiArnold Resnicoff conducted the first Israeli presidential ceremony in commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, held in thePresident's Residence, Jerusalem.Aura Herzog, wife of Israel's then-PresidentChaim Herzog, noted that she was especially proud to host this special event, because Israel hada national forest in honor of King, and that Israel and King shared the idea of "dreams".[47] Resnicoff continued this theme in his remarks during the ceremony, quoting the verse from Genesis, spoken by the brothers of Joseph when they saw their brother approach, "Behold the dreamer comes; let us slay him and throw him into the pit, and see what becomes of his dreams." Resnicoff noted that, from time immemorial, there have been those who thought they could kill the dream by slaying the dreamer, but – as the example of King's life shows – such people are always wrong.[48]
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed in the Japanese city ofHiroshima. In January 2005, MayorTadatoshi Akiba held 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.[49]
Every year since 1987, the Dr. Martin Luther King Tribute and Dinner has been held inWassenaar, The Netherlands.[50] The Tribute includes young people and veterans of the Civil Rights Movement as well as music. It always ends with everyone holding hands in a circle and singing "We Shall Overcome". The Tribute is held on the last Sunday in January.[51]
Observed on the third Monday in January. Dates with a gray background indicate Martin Luther King Jr. Day falling on the same day as thePresidential Inauguration.
^"About the MLK Day of Service". Corporation for National and Community Service.Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. RetrievedSeptember 21, 2020.
^The Jewish Week & The American Examiner, pg 37, February 3, 1986.
^"Arnold Resnicoff".Library of Congress Veterans History Project Oral History. May 2010.Archived from the original on November 18, 2018. RetrievedJanuary 16, 2017. At 1 hour 37 Min.
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