The City of Biloxi, Mississippi, faced backlash after publishing notices that it would be observing "Great Americans Day" on the third Monday of January - more widely known as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The city's official Twister and Facebook accounts announced on Friday that Biloxi's non-emergency municipal offices would be closed on Monday "in observance of Great Americans Day," which is also the federal holiday celebrating the birth of the nation's most celebrated civil rights hero.
According to a statement released by the city's mayor Andrew "FoFo" Gilich, the origin of "Great Americans Day" was traced back to a December 1985 City Council decision that proclaimed the third Monday of every January would "honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as other great Americans who have made important contributions to the birth, growth and evolution of the country."
Biloxi said he believed the city's Code of Ordinances should be updated. "In my opinion," that is the appropriate step to take, for the holiday to have the same name as the federal holiday."
The mayor did not address who wrote the social media posts and why they chose to reference "Great Americans Day" rather than the notable federal holiday. Biloxi celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day every year with a large parade - an event the mayor himself noted.
This city's longstanding support of our annual MLK celebrations speaks volumes about our support for this holiday," the mayor added in his statement. "In fact, we've always celebrated this day as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day."
Mississippi, along with Alabama and Arkansas, also celebrate Robert E. Lee Day on the third Monday in January as well. Lee led the confederate forces during the Civil War.
Biloxi holds a large Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade every year. This year, the parade will include a program of speakers and a battle of the bands. The theme of the parade this year is "If not us, who? If not now, when?"
A city spokesman said it was a call to community action.
"We are reflecting on the relationship between John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.," said city spokesman Gordon Jackson. "We want to encourage people to take a cause of action in their lives to make a positive difference in the community."
Analysis
This article was written on January 14, 2017 by Phil McCausland. The article was written starting out almost to mislead the reader. In my opinion, because this is a federally recognized holiday, it should not have other people being recognized on his day. He worked hard and fought a hard battle for Civil Rights. There should be another special Monday in another month that can honor all other Great Americans.
Not to discredit the work of the others, many movements took place to get this holiday recognized and all states and cities need to respect history.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/amp/biloxi-mississippi-refers-great-americans-day-instead-mlk-day-n706946?client=safari
I agree that this day should focus on the work of Martin Luther King Jr.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that Martin Luther King Day should continue to just focus on him since he earned it for how he effected our country.
ReplyDeleteMartin Luther King Day should continue to focus of the achievements of him and everything he focused on during his life.
ReplyDelete