Lee-King holiday split approved by Senate

The Arkansas Senate on Tuesday approved a bill to separate Arkansas’ dual celebration of the birthdays of civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The Senate’s 24-0 vote sent Senate Bill 519 by Sen. David Wallace, R-Leachville, to the House for further consideration. Eleven senators didn’t vote on the bill; 18 votes are required for passage in the 35-member Senate. No one spoke from the podium against the measure.

The bill would leave the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the third Monday in January. It’s a holiday for state employees.

The legislation would move Robert E. Lee’s celebration to the second Saturday in October — near the day of his death. Lee’s day would be commemorated by gubernatorial proclamation. It wouldn’t be a holiday for state employees.

SB519 would direct the state’s education commissioner to update material to emphasize the “historic work of American civil rights leaders, including without limitation Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and his pursuit of justice in civil society” and also on the “civilian and military leadership during the [Civil War] period and how the lessons of that era can inform contemporary society.”

In addition to Arkansas, two other former Confederate states, Alabama and Mississippi, continue to celebrate a joint King-Lee holiday.

Wallace told senators the bill is a good one for history because students would be taught more about the Civil War, and about both sides of the conflict.

“I know this is a hard vote for a lot of you,” he told senators.

But Wallace said the third Monday in January “is a very, very special day.

“It’s a day spent in prayer. It’s a day spent in remembrance. It’s a day that needs to stand alone,” he said. “It’s a day that needs to stand for Martin Luther King.”

Afterward, Sen. Scott Flippo, R-Mountain Home, said he didn’t vote on the legislation because “this is just changing the name of the holiday.

“This is something that Arkansans have been historically celebrating. I don’t think that you can legislate acceptance or relations. Regardless of what kind of changes we make, any kind of acceptance or true change in our society would come from the heart and not from the Legislature,” Flippo said.

The Senate’s action came a day after the Senate Education Committee recommended approval of the bill, after hearing Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson make a pitch for it.

After Tuesday’s vote, Hutchinson praised the Senate and Wallace.

“It is very gratifying to see Arkansas support a separate holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. by such an overwhelming margin. I hope the House will respond with a similar vote,” Hutchinson said in a written statement.

House Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, said late Tuesday afternoon he’ll make a decision this morning on whether to send the bill to the House Education Committee or State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee.

“I’m leaning towards Education,” he said. “We got [the bill] late this afternoon.”

Gillam declined to take a position for or against the legislation.

“I’m not going to prematurely weigh in on it at this point,” he said. “I’m going to let the process work itself out.”

Gillam said he couldn’t speculate “with any sort of accuracy” what the bill’s chances of clearing the House are.

Rep. Jana Della Rosa, R-Rogers, has filed House Bill 1995 renaming the King and Lee holiday on the third day of January for King and Arkansas civil-rights leader Daisy Gatson Bates and rename the holiday on the third Monday in February for George Washington and Robert E. Lee. That February holiday is now named for Washington and Bates.

She is a member of the House Education Committee. She couldn’t be reached for comment on Tuesday night.

Information for this article was contributed by Brian Fanney of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.