The American Federal Holiday designated for Martin Luther King Jr., Jan. 19, was promoted by labor unions in contract negotiations and takes place the third Monday of every January.
“When you talk about our history, we’ve had so many great people it is hard to single out one individual,” history teacher Will Churchill said.
The first time a bill for the holiday came to the U.S. House of Representatives it fell a few votes too short. After that, six million signatures were collected and it became the largest petition in favor of an issue in U.S. history according to a 2006 article in The Nation.
“They are in a tough position, if they did change it and take it away it would cause a major uproar considering everything that has been going on today,” Churchill said.
The day commemorates King’s work, equal rights for all Americans regardless of race. Segregation was pervasive in the U.S. without King’s work the nation would be much a different place.
“It takes a special type of person to deal and endure the problems without violence,” Churchill said.
King played a major role in ending the segregation of African-Americans and the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He was sent to jail for protesting but did not give up. His moving “I Have a Dream” speech in Alabama expressed his view on how the nation should be.
“A person should be judged by their character, not by the color of their skin, most people can say they share his dream of a fair world,” junior Leslie Beltran said.
King was a Baptist minister and he promoted nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs.
“They are definitely a basis which gives him more credence to what he was doing,” Churchill said.
In 1964 King was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in the Civil Rights Act Movement.
“He had a great impact on this country. He will be remembered,” senior Gerardo Trujillo said.