The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was the face of a movement that transformed a country in which 10% of its people were living as second-class citizens into a country that better reflects the principles of our Declaration of Independence and Constitution. King was martyred for his role in that struggle for freedom and equality that has bettered the lives of all Americans, not solely African-Americans.
Without being disrespectful to King, his personal sacrifice, and his legacy, the holiday associated with his birthday should not be called Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but renamed National Civil Rights Day, remaining on the third Monday in January to forever keep its nexus to him.
King had only been in Montgomery for 13 months when his fellow ministers pushed him into assuming leadership in the boycott. Those ministers feared losing their own pulpits for being too outspoken which was exactly what had happened to the Rev. Vernon Johns, King’s predecessor at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
Rosa Parks was aware that dozens of African-Americans had been shot for refusing to relinquish a bus seat whenever any gun-toting bus driver demanded it. Prof. Jo Ann Robinson of Alabama State College and a member of Montgomery’s Women’s Political Council risked her job and incarceration by leading a clandestine group who mimeographed around 40,000 boycott flyers on her school’s equipment. Afterwards, she organized the distribution of those flyers around Montgomery’s Black neighborhoods to ensure everyone was aware of the upcoming boycott.
Thousands of poor, tired, anonymous Montgomery women and men, who trudged through winter’s inclement weather and summer’s blistering heat for 381 days, made that boycott a success. Over the next decade, tens of thousands were beaten, imprisoned, and/or died pursuing freedom and equality.
By renaming this holiday National Civil Rights Day, we’d embrace every American who worked and/or died fighting for civil and voting rights. The names of activists such as Medgar Evers, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, Rev. James Reeb, and Viola Liuzzo are well-known and frequently mentioned in civil rights martyrology.
Unmentioned are Octavius V. Catto, Elbert Williams, Maceo Snipes, Harry and Harriette Moore, Rev. George Lee, Lamar Smith, Jimmy Lee Jackson, Jonathan M. Daniels, Samuel Leamon Younge Jr., Vernon Dahmer, and nearly a thousand others who died for having the courage to vote, a privilege we now take for granted.
National Civil Rights Day would also preserve the names of multiple unwitting catalysts for changes in police procedures. Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Eric Garner, Eric Harris, Walter Scott, Akai Gurley, Jamar Clark, Sandra Bland, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Daunte Wright, and others murdered would be forever honored.
National Civil Rights Day would enshrine the changes resulting from 250,000 people attending 1963’s March for Jobs and Freedom spurred others to launch mass demonstrations in Washington and across America. Some causes included an end to the Vietnam War; nuclear disarmament; women’s equality; pro-life movement; gay/lesbian rights; freedom for Soviet Jews; fighting against AIDS; the MeToo movement; and support for Israel/denunciation of antisemitism.
National Civil Rights Day would correct the misconception that the Civil Rights Movement only benefited African-Americans. After poll taxes were eliminated, poor white Americans could finally vote in every state.
While the criminal rights of African-American defendants have been the subject of many Supreme Court cases, every American has enjoyed an end to forced confessions; jury trials by one’s peers; the right to a state-appointed attorney in non-capital cases; and other civil rights.
The 1964 Civil Rights Act spurred the passage of Title IX of the 1972 Educational Amendments which barred discrimination on the basis of sex at educational institutions which received federal money.
The changes wrought by the passage of 1964’s Civil Rights Bill, 1965’s Voting Rights Bill, and 1968’s Fair Housing Bill, have greatly enriched all our lives as we’ve benefited from the intelligence and abilities of other Americans, previously marginalized. Today, every American can secure his/her rightful place in law, medicine, academia, literature, science, politics, business, sports, and entertainment. And each of us has been rewarded from their contributions.
National Civil Rights Day would be akin to what we now call Presidents Day. Next month, we will honor all our presidents, not just Washington and Lincoln, the only ones honored decades ago.
King was a great man deserving of every accolade he received. He’ll forever be the face of the movement but changing the holiday’s name will make everyone realize that King’s work improved the lives of every American, not just African-Americans.
Newman is an amateur historian of African-American history.
