Who was Martin Luther King Jr.?

B&P reader Anthony S.’s 6 year old son Michael on why there is no school on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday.

Thanks Anthony

27 thoughts on “Who was Martin Luther King Jr.?”

  1. I forgot to mention…

    Cute kid, Anthony!…sounds like you’re doing a fine job with the lad.
    Next year, quantum physics!

  2. Why should there be a holiday for a white person? Martin Luther King was an amazing person that changed the course of America. That should be the criteria for a person having a holiday named after them.

    The other people like that were JFK, and Lincoln and such, and they have Presidents Day. The guy who discovered America has a day.

    Who gives a shit if hes got a holiday and he was black?

  3. DJ, keep in mind I am not American, but is there not a presidents day? Isn’t that for Washington’s Birthday?

    Who would you choose to celebrate? I find this all very interesting! We Aussies love a day off. I don’t think we have one that celebrates a black person. I am of to google that!

  4. Presidents day is actually celebrating two white guy’s birthdays. The reason it’s ok to have a “holiday” (I say that in quotes because I don’t know anyone who actually gets the day off) celebrating these particular white guys is because one of them was the first president and the other was the one who signed the emancipation proclamation. If it had not been for the second guy it would be a racist holiday. Now that Obama is president (almost) however, maybe it’ll be ok for us to celebrate a white person without being called racist.

  5. …well said little man….you are on the right track….no snese getting on political on the little guy….he’ll get it…but for now, it’s his time to be a child.

  6. bits – Yes there is a day honoring all the presidents, and up till 2 hrs from now they’ve all been white, so I suppose you could stretch it and say yeah, we’re honoring 43 white guys, but that kinda changes today.

    We used to have a legal holiday honoring Washington, but about 30-40 years ago they eliminated that and changed it to the more generic President’s Day (it falls close to Washington’s BD).

    Who to honor? That’s an excellent question. I’d probably want to give that some thought….Abe Lincoln springs to mind…I’m not usually in favor of giving people even more paid days off work. (I’m not on the bandwagon yet for an official Obama Day! www . cjonline.com/stories/110908/loc_353922770.shtml )

    Do you have holidays honoring a specific person in Australia?
    How about Canada, Bella?
    Other countries?

    >> Maybe a good question for a B & P poll, dunno.

  7. @DJ

    American has no official holiday honoring a white guy? You forgot Jesus-

    According to Wikipedia, it defines “white people” as “people having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. That would include Jesus.

    And just to through this out. MLK isn’t about the man himself. Its more about the principles he stood for.

  8. Sorry, I meant to say “MLK day” isn’t about the man himself. Its more about the principles he stood for.

    If people don’t like using Martin Luther King Day, they can do like Utah and call it Human Rights Day. Either way, it should be a time or reflecition — when people should recognize that everybody should be born free and equal in dignity and rights.

  9. We have the Queens Birthday but I don’t think that counts. We also have ANZAC day that honours all the people that gave their lives in the wars. That one I stand by.
    We (in Melbourne) have a day of for a horse race!!

  10. DJ said “great American white person”. Jesus wasn’t American.

    There is no official federal holiday called Presidents Day. It is still officially called Washington’s Birthday to honor George Washington. Lincoln’s birthday was never a federal holiday and was never officially merged with Washington’s to become something called Presidents Day.

  11. infidel,

    According to the US Census, a white person is anbody having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. Look it up:

    http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/meta/long_RHI125206.htm

    However, we could argue over “race” until we are blue in the face. The fact of the matter, the American Anthropological Association states, “Race simply cannot be tested or proven scientifically,” and that, “It is clear that human populations are not unambiguous, clearly demarcated, biologically distinct groups. The concept of ‘race’ has no validity … in the human species.”

    Instead, what we have are different ethnic groups. Ethnicity connotes shared cultural, linguistic, behavioural or religious traits. MLK was African American. A culture that developed separately from mainstream American culture because of the persistence of discrimination. He also happened to be a champion for all human rights (not just black people). In fact, in the years before he died, his main focus was on the discrimination of the poor.

    Therefore, going back to my original post, MLK Day should be a time to reflect on the Declaration of Independence’s notion that “All men are created equal” and that in the 200+ years of American history it took people like MLK to point out that, in reality, we weren’t treating each other equally.

  12. Scott,

    As far as I know all federal and state instituitions get Christmas off. Therefore, it is an “American” holiday. A holiday that happens to honor Jesus.

    You are correct in that DJ did say great “American” white person. However, now we are just arguing over semantics on the internet. Again, going back to my posts above, MLK day should be observed for the principles the man stood for, not the man (who happened to be American and black).

  13. And while we’re at it, why isn’t there an official “great Hispanic American” holiday? (currently the largest minority in the US). Where’s the great Asian American holiday? Great Native American holiday? My point is its pretty biased to have statements like “explain why there’s no official holiday in the US honoring any great American white person.”

    Holidays should be celebrated and/or observed because of the principles and ideas they stand for — not necessarily for the people they represent.

    However, I’m not sure exactly what’s up with Labor Day 🙂

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