Monday, Jan. 17, will be Martin Luther King Day, in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., pictured here with Malcolm X. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

On Monday, Jan. 17, the annual observance of Martin Luther King Day will be held. The day is the celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a key figure in the struggle for civil rights for African Americans. It is a federal holiday, and most federal offices will close, as will banks.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day on third Monday of January

As is the custom, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed on the third Monday of every January, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day for 2011 falls on Jan. 17. King was born Jan. 15, 1929, but like other holiday observances such as Columbus Day, the observance is scheduled for a day of the week instead of a calendar date. Government offices, such as the post office, will be closed on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, or MLK Day as it is referred to informally. It is referred to in some states alternately as Civil Rights Day or Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights Day.

Controversial beginnings

People started calling for a day of remembrance immediately after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, as he was one of the most prominent figures in the Civil Rights struggle. It took until 1983 to make it a federal holiday. Ronald Reagan opposed creating a paid holiday, but Congress voted overwhelmingly for the bill and even if he had vetoed it, the bill would have been passed over his head anyway. The loudest opposition to the bill came from Senators Jesse Helms and John McCain. McCain’s home state of Arizona was blasted in the media for being a hotbed of intolerance and racism for opposing the bill.

Take time to reflect

Though any holiday is a good time to relax if one gets the day off from work, it can be taken for granted that a lot of really important advances have been made in this country in the last century. The right of women to vote, the end of racial segregation and many other things seem commonplace now but were once great controversies, and Martin Luther King Day should be a time for celebrating advancements in human rights.

Columbus Day 2010 will be Monday, Oct. 11. His legacy is complex. Image from Wikimedia Commons.

Columbus Day 2010 will be on Monday, Oct. 11. The second Monday of October is always celebrated as Columbus Day. Banks will not be open. Post offices will not be open either on Columbus Day 2010. The United States isn’t the only country that celebrates Columbus Day. However, some people question whether it should really be celebrated at all.

Columbus Day history

Christopher Columbus reached the Americas on Oct. 12, 1492. However, according to Wikipedia, he arrived on Oct. 12 of the Julian Calendar. Currently, much of the world is on the Gregorian Calendar which replaced it, putting Columbus’ arrival on Oct. 21, 1492. Columbus Day began in the United States as a state holiday in Colorado in 1906, and as a federal holiday in 1934. Celebrations of it had been held earlier, as several cities celebrated it in 1792, and in 1892, President Benjamin Harrison called for an observance of the 400-year anniversary of his arrival. It was declared a holiday by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Not all school districts, stock exchanges and state governments observe it. People should make sure to check local banks and state offices and postal services if curious. However, there is some question over whether it should be celebrated at all.

Legacy of Columbus

The closest Christopher Columbus got to what is the United States is Cuba. The first Europeans to see what is the U.S. or Canada were Vikings, who temporarily settled at L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland. Columbus, for one, barely got his first voyage bankrolled. Within 100 years, the bulk of the native population of Cuba, Haiti and other islands was dead. He and his men have been accused over the years of genocide. His motivation was profit, and a priest who went on a voyage of his, Bartolome de las Casas, famously deplored his brutality.

Dora is a better explorer

Columbus basically got to the Caribbean by luck. Columbus never really thought the Earth was flat, either. He also was responsible, to one degree or another, for the slaughter of thousands. In fact, he was arrested by the Spanish Crown for being too brutal, and died an outcast. His is a complicated legacy. Take a minute to ponder it on Columbus Day 2010.

Sources

Wikipedia on Columbus Day

Wikipedia on Christopher Columbus