Lawmakers vote to remove Lee from King holiday
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas lawmakers gave final approval Friday to legislation removing Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from the holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
The state House approved the proposal with a 66-11 vote and sent it to Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who had urged lawmakers to end the dual holiday. Five representatives voted present, effectively voting no on the bill. Once the bill is signed into law, Mississippi and Alabama will be the only states that honor Lee and King on the same day.
The bill sets aside the second Saturday in October to honor Lee with a memorial day, not a state holiday, marked by a gubernatorial proclamation. It also expands what is taught in schools about the Civil War and civil rights.
Hutchinson, who promised last year to push for ending the dual holiday, made the unusual move of testifying in front of two separate legislative committees this month to speak in support of the proposal. Hutchinson told the panel that King deserved his own day of recognition, and that ending the dual holiday would be a healing moment for the state.
Hutchinson’s office said he would sign the measure into law on Monday with a ceremony that the governor said would emphasize the “historic dynamic of this new day.”
“The support for a separate holiday to recognize Martin Luther King far exceeded my expectations and speaks well of the General Assembly and our state,” Hutchinson said in a statement released by his office.
Republican Rep. Grant Hodges presented the bill in the House and acknowledged that it wasn’t perfect. The representative said he has several Confederate memorials in his district and that the measure is not meant to disrespect Confederate history in any way. He said the proposal was an effort to give both King and Lee their due, individually.
“This is not a perfect solution, but it is a good solution,” Hodges said.
A similar effort to remove Lee from the King holiday repeatedly failed before a House committee two years ago. Opponents of the measure said the legislation belittled the state’s Confederate heritage by not giving Lee his own holiday.