Post by Logan on Mar 5, 2017 6:48:28 GMT -6
Arkansas governor: Taking Lee off King holiday an uphill fight
LITTLE ROCK— Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Wednesday he expects an uphill battle pushing to remove Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from the holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., but said the move is needed to unify the state and help its image.
The Republican called a bill he's championing to give King the holiday to himself an education measure, citing provisions requiring the state to expand what's taught in public schools about civil rights and the Civil War. Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi are the only three states to commemorate both men on the third Monday in January.
"This would not only be the right thing to do and would help us to unify the state and bring us together, but I do believe it would help advance the image of the state of Arkansas as one that is receptive to all and that respects minorities and that we're beyond the division of the past," Hutchinson said at a news conference.
An effort to end the dual holiday failed repeatedly before a House committee two years ago, with opponents claiming the move would belittle the state's Confederate heritage. Hutchinson said he couldn't guarantee the same result.
Read more: www.texarkanagazette.com/news/arkansas/story/2017/mar/02/arkansas-governor-taking-lee-king-holiday-uphill-fight/663799/
LITTLE ROCK— Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Wednesday he expects an uphill battle pushing to remove Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from the holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., but said the move is needed to unify the state and help its image.
The Republican called a bill he's championing to give King the holiday to himself an education measure, citing provisions requiring the state to expand what's taught in public schools about civil rights and the Civil War. Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi are the only three states to commemorate both men on the third Monday in January.
"This would not only be the right thing to do and would help us to unify the state and bring us together, but I do believe it would help advance the image of the state of Arkansas as one that is receptive to all and that respects minorities and that we're beyond the division of the past," Hutchinson said at a news conference.
An effort to end the dual holiday failed repeatedly before a House committee two years ago, with opponents claiming the move would belittle the state's Confederate heritage. Hutchinson said he couldn't guarantee the same result.
Read more: www.texarkanagazette.com/news/arkansas/story/2017/mar/02/arkansas-governor-taking-lee-king-holiday-uphill-fight/663799/