Today we remember an American hero--Martin Luther King--and can we please drop the Robert E. Lee holiday already?

News and views for Floridians and other thoughtful Americans

Today, we celebrate the life of a great American hero, the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, who dedicated his life to the cause of freedom.

It is the only federal holiday celebrating the life of a Black American.

Because of an oddity of the calendar, today’s MLK holiday also falls on the birthday of another historical figure: Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general who betrayed the United States and fought to preserve slavery during the Civil War.

Here in Florida—and in much of the South—both are holidays.

I know. I know. It’s the 21st century and we’re still doing this? It’s hard to believe.

Partly, it’s a consequence of Dr. King’s holiday moving around from year to year so that it always ends up as the third Monday in January, making a three-day weekend. He was actually born on Jan. 15, not today’s date, Jan. 19.

But Jan. 19 is when Robert E. Lee was born, and it is considered a state holiday, albeit a second-tier commemoration. Government employees don’t get the day off for Lee’s birthday, which somehow seems fitting that on a day recognizing a traitor who wanted to preserve human enslavement, employees would be required to continue toiling at their jobs.

Florida is not alone in recognizing Lee. Several other former Confederate states still do as well. Alabama and Mississippi, notably, celebrate a combined holiday called King-Lee Day. At least they list King first.

Florida also celebrates Confederate Memorial Day on April 26, and the birthday of Jefferson Davis on June 3. Go figure.

When I’m not writing posts for Tropic Press, I also contribute a column to Florida Weekly. This is what I wrote about Dr. King in a recent issue:

In his short 39 years of life, King did more to advance the cause of freedom and justice in this country than most presidents or other elected leaders have over the course of their lifetimes.

While he never held public office, King led the nonviolent fight against racial discrimination that led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

He was the victim of illegal FBI persecution (sound familiar?), was jailed several times, but never gave up.

In 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work fighting racial injustice—and he didn’t even have to lobby and beg for it like some people we know.

Posthumously, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal, and in 2011, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial was dedicated on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The federal holiday bearing his name was first observed in 1986.

King was an American hero. He fought—and died—for the most fundamental value of the United States: Freedom.

And as a Christian minister, he championed the welfare of poor people. Indeed, he was planning a peaceful occupation of the nation’s capital to be called the Poor People’s Campaign when he was gunned down in Memphis in 1968.

King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is considered one of the most important in U.S. history, spoken of in the same breath as the words of Lincoln and Jefferson in terms of shaping the nation’s identity, according to “American Rhetoric.”

He was born on Jan. 15, 1929. Had he lived, MLK would have been 97 years young this month.

He may be gone, but his legacy lives on, while the struggle against injustice continues.

As for Lee, the Civil War was the deadliest conflict in U.S. history with estimates that around 700,000 people perished in both combat and from disease. Lee was considered a brilliant general and because of that, his efforts may have significantly prolonged the war and the body count.

Not a hero. Not deserving a holiday.

---

Quote of the Day

Now that we’re all about “complying with the law” re Minnesota, does that extend to complying with the law re Epstein files?

—Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger

---

Meme of the Day

More online

Thank you for reading the Tropic Press newsletter. You also have access to the Tropic Press website for additional and previous posts, an archive of posts from our advice columnist, Miss Mingo, occasional guest commentaries, and information about The Strange Files series of mysterious adventures and other books.

---

Thanks to our sponsor

Today’s report is brought to you by Tropic Press Books, home of The Strange Files. The six-book series makes the perfect New Year’s present for the mystery fans in your life. You can find more information about these hilarious stories here.