When President Reagan declared the third Mon- day of each January Mar- tin Luther King Day, he could not have foreseen in 2025 it would coincide with the second inauguration of Donald Trump, but he would have been exhilarated if he knew. Reagan was hideously opposed to honoring MLK, telling then- Governor Thomson, Jr. of New Hampshire that expectations were “based on an image, not reality. Indeed to them perception is reality.” He judged King to be a communist, but allowed that “we will know in about 35 years’’.
Defiant challenges were also mounted by Senate Republicans and numerous states. Virginia recognized Lee- (as in
the defeated Confederate general) Jackson- (another prominent Confederate officer)-King Day until 2000. Some still abstain from full endorsement by pairing it with their own, more palatable “heroes.” Mississippi and Alabama both celebrate King-Lee Day. Idaho and New Hampshire observed Civil Rights Day until the reprehensible racism in Idaho, headquarters of the Aryan Nations, was revealed the state coveted a new façade. In 2000 they would finally tolerate a holiday to honor MLK.
Upholding hybrid holidays champions white people’s patriotism and obfuscates their racial bigotry. In 1986 Governor Babbit Arizona issued an executive order creating a paid MLK holiday, but in Evan Mecham’s first performance as governor in 1987, he annulled it. “The state cannot afford to pay the many employees of the state for a holiday of a man who served as a major leader for civil rights. Yes, he did gain civil rights for blacks, but the state has observed paid holidays for presidents of the United States only. Why should the State of Arizona pay employees for a holiday of a non-national leader?” Stevie Wonder boycotted the state. Jesse Jackson cancelled his intended trip. Even the NFL couldn’t convert the governor, In March 1993, the city forfeited the Super Bowl and about $200 million revenue by refusing to restore the reverend’s holiday. Arizona was the concluding state to honor MLK Day. New Hampshire adopted Civil Rights Day in 1993; in 2000 it became MLK Day.
The fact that it took so long for New Hampshire to recognize the holiday still o ends some residents. JerriAnne Boggis, the Portsmouth Black Heritage Trail director said, “It was really strange to me that all the talk was around all these other things, except the real reason: that we really didn’t want to honor a man of color.” These repudiating states also minimize America’s racist violence. Massachusetts, an early adopter, teaches slavery 104 times in its K-12 public school history. Alabama, only 15 times, and Idaho mentions it twice. In New Hampshire, consequences of the civil rights movement, like the murder of Emmett Till, are sometimes omitted. Instead of celebrating his commitment to true equality, politicians dismiss King as a uniter, evidence of America’s contemporary “brotherhood.” The FBI even tweeted its admiration for King’s “incredible career fighting for civil rights” — even though they accused him of being a domestic threat during his lifetime and urged his suicide.
