The governor of Arkansas signed legislation Tuesday allocating separate holidays for Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., officially ending the state’s decades-long practice of commemorating both men on the same day.
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson autographed Senate Bill 519 on Tuesday afternoon, effectively giving either historic American their own state holiday several months apart.
Specifically the bill designates the third Monday in January as a state holiday honoring King while establishing the second Saturday in October going forward as “Robert E. Lee Day.”
King and Lee were both born in mid-January, and for decades the state of Arkansas honored both on the third Monday of the first month.
Efforts to separate the dates gained steam in recent years, however, and state’s legislature overwhelmingly voted in favor of S.B. 519 during a 66-11 vote on Friday.
Mr. Hutchinson praised the bill’s passage last week and further hailed its success at a signing ceremony Tuesday in Little Rock.
“I expected this debate would divide us, but instead during the debate, we listened to each other and the conversation brought us together,” the governor said. “This is an education bill in which the discussion educated each of us, and we learned that history needs to be viewed not just from our own lens, but through the eyes and experiences of others.”
In addition to eliminating “the dual status of the joint holiday,” the bill also directs the state to ensure students are properly educated with regards to King’s contributions in conjunction with his holiday, as well as updates to curriculum reflecting the historical contributions of other African-Americans beginning in the 2018-2019 school year.
Arkansas established state holidays honoring Lee in 1947 and King in 1983, then combined them about two years later, the Associated Press reported. The third Monday in January has been a federal holiday commemorating King since 1983.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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