Editing Martin Luther King Jr. Day (section)

==History==
{{Main|Passage of Martin Luther King Jr. Day}}

===Proposals===
[[File:Don%27t_Work_sign_ppmsca.03197_Cropped.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|right|{{shy|Sign (1969) pro|mot|ing a holiday on the an|ni|ver|sa|ry of King's death}}]]
[[File:President Ronald Reagan at the Signing Ceremony for Martin Luther King Holiday Legislation.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|right|[[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Coretta 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 by [[trade union|labor unions]] in contract negotiations.<ref name="nation">{{cite news|last=Jones |first=William P. |date=January 30, 2006 |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |url=http://www.thenation.com/article/working-class-hero?page=full |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629021941/http://www.thenation.com/article/working-class-hero?page=full |title=Working-Class Hero |work=[[The Nation]] |access-date=January 17, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> After King's death, Representative [[John Conyers]]<ref name="20180110History.comBlakemore">{{cite web |last1=Blakemore |first1=Erin |title=The Fight for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day |url=https://www.history.com/news/martin-luther-king-jr-day-controversial-origins-of-the-holiday |publisher=[[History (American TV network)|History.com]] |access-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210120022100/https://www.history.com/news/martin-luther-king-jr-day-controversial-origins-of-the-holiday |archive-date=January 20, 2021 |date=January 10, 2018}}</ref> (a Democrat from [[Michigan]]) and Senator [[Edward Brooke]] (a Republican from [[Massachusetts]]) 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.<ref name="Wolfen">{{cite web|last=Wolfensberger |first=Don |date=January 14, 2008 |archive-date=March 3, 2011 |url=http://www.wilsoncenter.org/events/docs/King%20Holiday-essay-drw.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303194404/http://www.wilsoncenter.org/events/docs/King%20Holiday-essay-drw.pdf |title=The Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday: The Long Struggle in Congress, An Introductory Essay |publisher=[[Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars]] |access-date=January 16, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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).<ref name="Wolfen" /> Only two other figures have national holidays in the U.S. honoring them: [[George Washington]] and [[Christopher Columbus]].<!-- Please do not change this sentence. The *national* holiday is Washington's Birthday, not President's Day (which is the name of a state holiday in many states). -->

Soon after, the [[Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site|King Center]] turned to support from the corporate community and the general public. The success of this strategy was cemented when musician [[Stevie Wonder]] released the single "[[Happy Birthday (Stevie Wonder song)|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 in ''[[The Nation]]'' as "the largest petition in favor of an issue in U.S. history".<ref name="nation"/>

Senators [[Jesse Helms]] and [[John Porter East]] (both [[North Carolina]] [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]s) led the opposition to the holiday and questioned whether King was important enough to receive such an honor. Helms criticized King's opposition to the [[Vietnam War]] and accused him of espousing "action-oriented [[Marxism]]".<ref name="dewar">{{cite news|last=Dewar |first=Helen |date=October 4, 1983 |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/articles/helms_stalls_kings_day.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629031519/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/articles/helms_stalls_kings_day.html |title=Helms Stalls King's Day in Senate |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |page=A01 |access-date=January 16, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Helms led a [[filibuster]] against the bill and on October 3, 1983, submitted a 300-page document to the Senate alleging that King had associations with [[Communism|communists]]. Democratic New York Senator [[Daniel Patrick Moynihan]] declared Helms' document a "packet of filth", threw it on the Senate floor, and stomped on it.<ref>{{cite news|last=Romero|first=Frances|title=A Brief History of Martin Luther King Jr. Day|url=http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1872501,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090120235156/http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1872501,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 20, 2009|newspaper=Time|date=January 18, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Courtwright|first=David T.|title=No Right Turn: Conservative Politics in a Liberal America|year=2010|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0-674-04677-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J5Vb52f6rOIC&q=moynihan+%22packet+of+filth%22&pg=PA13|page=13|access-date=November 16, 2020|archive-date=January 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116233511/https://books.google.com/books?id=J5Vb52f6rOIC&q=moynihan+%22packet+of+filth%22&pg=PA13|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Federal passage===
[[Ronald Reagan|President Ronald Reagan]] originally opposed the holiday, citing cost concerns. 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 of [[FBI]] surveillance tapes that had previously been [[record sealing|sealed]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Younge|first1=Gary|title=The Misremembering of 'I Have a Dream'|journal=The Nation|date=September 2–9, 2013|url=http://www.thenation.com/article/175764/misremembering-i-have-dream|access-date=April 12, 2015|archive-date=April 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150426110321/http://www.thenation.com/article/175764/misremembering-i-have-dream|url-status=live}}</ref> But on November 2, 1983, Reagan signed a bill into law, proposed by [[Katie Hall (American politician)|Representative Katie Hall]] of Indiana, to create a federal holiday honoring King.<ref name="reagan">{{cite web|last=Woolley |first=John T. |author2=Gerhard Peters |date=November 2, 1983 |archive-date=July 20, 2011 |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=40708 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720080942/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=40708 |title=Ronald Reagan: Remarks on Signing the Bill Making the Birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. a National Holiday |publisher=[[The American Presidency Project]] |access-date=January 16, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=statute>{{USStatute|98|399|98|1475|1984|8|27}}</ref> The final vote in the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] on August 2, 1983, was 338–90 (242–4 in the [[House Democratic Caucus]] and 89–77 in the [[House Republican Conference]]) with 5 members voting present or abstaining,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/98-1983/h289|title=TO SUSPEND THE RULES AND PASS H.R. 3706, A BILL AMENDING TITLE 5, UNITED STATES CODE TO MAKE THE BIRTHDAY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., A LEGAL PUBLIC HOLIDAY. (MOTION PASSED;2/3 REQUIRED).|access-date=May 14, 2020|archive-date=May 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200520080737/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/98-1983/h289|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="dewar"/> while the final vote in the Senate on October 19, 1983, was 78–22 (41–4 in the [[Senate Democratic Caucus]] and 37–18 in the [[Senate Republican Conference]]),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/98-1983/s293|title=TO PASS H.R. 3706. (MOTION PASSED) SEE NOTE(S) 19.|access-date=May 14, 2020|archive-date=May 20, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200520132928/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/98-1983/s293|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Dewar |first1=Helen |title=Solemn Senate Votes For National Holiday Honoring Rev. King |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/articles/solemn_senate_votes_for_national_holiday.html |access-date=March 11, 2019 |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=October 20, 1983 |archive-date=January 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123184908/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinions/articles/solemn_senate_votes_for_national_holiday.html |url-status=live }}</ref> both [[veto]]-proof margins. The holiday was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986.<ref name=statute/> It is observed on the third Monday of January.<ref>{{cite news |author=May, Ashley |title=What is open and closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day? |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/01/18/mlk-day-what-open-and-closed-martin-luther-king-jr-day/2612990002/ |work=USA Today |date=January 18, 2019 |access-date=January 20, 2019 |archive-date=January 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190118213547/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/01/18/mlk-day-what-open-and-closed-martin-luther-king-jr-day/2612990002/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The bill also established the "Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday Commission"<ref name=statute/> to oversee observance of the holiday, and [[Coretta Scott King]], King's wife, was made a member of this commission for life by [[George H. W. Bush|President George H. W. Bush]] in May 1989.<ref name="bush">{{cite web|last=Woolley |first=John T. |author2=Gerhard Peters |date=May 17, 1989 |archive-date=October 2, 2012 |url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=17040 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121002135726/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=17040 |title=George Bush: Remarks on Signing the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission Extension Act |publisher=[[The American Presidency Project]] |access-date=January 16, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{USStatute|101|30|103|60|1989|05|17}}</ref>

===State passage===
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<ref name="20180110History.comBlakemore" /> until 1991, when the [[New Hampshire]] legislature created "Civil Rights Day" and abolished its April "[[Fast Day]]".<ref name="nhgov">{{cite web|last=Gilbreth |first=Donna |year=1997 |archive-date=January 2, 2011 |url=http://www.nh.gov/nhinfo/fast.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110102115710/http://www.nh.gov/nhinfo/fast.html |title=Rise and Fall of Fast Day |publisher=New Hampshire State Library |access-date=January 17, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1999, [[New Hampshire]] became the last state to name a holiday after King, which they first celebrated in January 2000{{snd}}the first nationwide celebration of the day with this name.<ref name="N.H.'s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Didn't Happen Without A Fight">{{cite web |url=https://www.nhpr.org/post/nhs-martin-luther-king-jr-day-didnt-happen-without-fight#stream/0 |publisher=New Hampshire Public Radio |title=N.H.'s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Didn't Happen Without A Fight |date=August 27, 2013 |access-date=August 27, 2013 |archive-date=August 15, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140815141308/http://nhpr.org/post/nhs-martin-luther-king-jr-day-didnt-happen-without-fight#stream/0 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1986, Arizona [[List of Governors of Arizona|Governor]] [[Bruce Babbitt]], a Democrat, created a paid state MLK holiday in Arizona by executive order just before he left office, but in 1987, his Republican successor [[Evan Mecham]], citing an attorney general's opinion that Babbitt's order was illegal, reversed Babbitt's decision days after taking office.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ye Hee Lee|first=Michelle|title=Recalling Arizona's struggle for MLK holiday|url=http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/20120112martin-luther-king-holiday-dilemma.html#ixzz2IYEyGRdg|access-date=January 20, 2013|newspaper=[[The Arizona Republic]]|date=January 15, 2012|archive-date=January 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116233454/https://help.azcentral.com/#ixzz2IYEyGRdg|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|title=Civil Rights Day in United States|url=http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/civil-rights-day|website=timeanddate.com|publisher=Time and Date AS|access-date=April 12, 2015|archive-date=March 29, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329035022/http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/civil-rights-day|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1990, Arizona voters were given the opportunity to vote on giving state employees a paid MLK holiday. That same year, the [[National Football League]] threatened to move [[Super Bowl XXVII]], which was planned for Arizona in 1993, if the MLK holiday was voted down.<ref name="TucsonSentinel">{{cite web |url=http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/101611_az_mlk_dedication/arizonans-recall-fight-state-mlk-holiday |title=tucsonsentinel.com |publisher=tucsonsentinel.com |access-date=February 5, 2013 |archive-date=February 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130205033001/http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/101611_az_mlk_dedication/arizonans-recall-fight-state-mlk-holiday/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In the November 1990 election, the voters were offered two King Day options: Proposition 301, which replaced [[Columbus Day]] on the list of paid state holidays, and Proposition 302, which merged [[Lincoln's Birthday|Lincoln's]] and [[Washington's Birthday|Washington'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.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Shumway|first1=Jim|title=STATE OF ARIZONA OFFICIAL CANVASS – GENERAL ELECTION – November 6, 1990|url=http://azsos.gov/sites/azsos.gov/files/canvass1990ge.pdf|website=Arizona Secretary of State ~ Home Page|publisher=Arizona Secretary of State|access-date=April 11, 2015|page=12|date=November 26, 1990|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317014021/http://www.azsos.gov/sites/azsos.gov/files/canvass1990ge.pdf|archive-date=March 17, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> Consequently, the state lost the chance to host Super Bowl XXVII, which was subsequently held at the [[Rose Bowl (stadium)|Rose Bowl]] in [[Pasadena, California]].<ref name="TucsonSentinel"/> In a 1992 referendum, the voters, this time given only one option for a paid King Day, approved state-level recognition of the holiday.<ref name="Reingold2000">{{cite book|last=Reingold|first=Beth|title=Representing Women: Sex, Gender, and Legislative Behavior in Arizona and California|url=https://archive.org/details/representingwome0000rein|url-access=registration|access-date=May 4, 2014|year=2000|publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press|isbn=9780807848500|pages=[https://archive.org/details/representingwome0000rein/page/66 66]–}}</ref>

On May 2, 2000, South Carolina governor [[Jim 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 three [[Confederate holidays]].<ref>[http://www.infoplease.com/spot/mlkhistory1.html The History of Martin Luther King Day] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704203142/http://www.infoplease.com/spot/mlkhistory1.html |date=July 4, 2011 }}, Infoplease</ref>