U.S. Celebrates 40th Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday

What Happened?

On Monday, the United States marked the 40^th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which was first celebrated as a federal holiday in 1986 in memory of the slain civil rights leader. President Ronald Reagan signed legislation creating the holiday in 1983, but the first year it was officially recognized as a federal holiday in the U.S. was three years later. 

Federal workers and many private sector employees will have the day off from work in the United States, and it is also recognized as a day of service to encourage volunteer work. The legislation to establish MLK, Jr. Day was signed fifteen years after the civil rights leader was assassinated. 

Why it Matters

Dr. King was a key leader in the civil rights movement in the 1960s and an outspoken opponent of racial segregation and discrimination in the United States. Though the American Civil War ended slavery, after the war, most southern states passed laws that either prevented or made it difficult for African-Americans to exercise their full rights of citizenship, including voting and participation in civil society. 

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Following the Civil War, three new amendments to the Constitution were ratified, including the Fourteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment contained several key provisions designed to end racial discrimination, including the equal protection clause, which was intended to prevent states from denying citizens their rights on account of race.

Despite its passage, after the Civil War, southern states passed hundreds of laws that violated the Fourteenth Amendment, which allowed former Confederate states to continue depriving African-Americans of their constitutionally protected rights, the most important of which was the right to vote.

While the physical war over slavery ended at Appomattox, the legal battle to end state-sponsored racial discrimination continued for another one hundred years. Not until 1964 did the federal Civil Rights Act pass through Congress, which explicitly outlawed discrimination on the basis of race or color. That landmark legislation could not have passed without advocates like Dr. King, who devoted most of his adult life to raising awareness of the continued discriminatory practices in the south and the devastating costs it had on its victims. 

Among Dr. King’s numerous publications on anti-discrimination, his Letters from a Birmingham Jail stood out as a historic piece of philosophical and legal reasoning, which laid out an indisputable case against discrimination and in support of civil disobedience in defiance of unjust laws.

Through speeches, written publications, and a lifetime of activism, which tragically culminated in his assassination in 1968, Dr. King’s advocacy changed national public opinion so much it spurred Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act, becoming one of his defining achievements.

How it Affects You

Dr. King’s example of moral advocacy to change public opinion so much that Congress felt compelled to act is proof that persuasion and reason can bring about significant changes to the law. His work at times brought suffering to him and his supporters, and their willingness to bear it unceasingly played a major role in raising the public consciousness on the issues of racial equality in America.

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