Effort to split Lee, King holidays falls in committee

Rep. Frederick J Love, D-Little Rock, presents House Bill 1119 Wednesday.
Rep. Frederick J Love, D-Little Rock, presents House Bill 1119 Wednesday.

A bill that would end Arkansas' observance of a joint holiday honoring civil-rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee failed to pass out of a committee Wednesday.

The State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee voted down House Bill 1119 on a voice vote Wednesday.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Fred Love, D-Little Rock, would have left the holiday for King on the third Monday of the month and shift the day honoring Lee to the second Monday.

"I don't think that that vote is on the right side of history," Love said after the vote. "Arkansas has history in which we can proud of ... and I thought that this would just be one more step toward healing race relations in Arkansas. But unfortunately, the committee did not think so and so I can respect the committees choice, but I don't think we're on the right side of history with that vote."

Love said he will "definitely" bring the issue back up next session.

"And I will continue to do so until we get the holidays separated," he added.

HB1119 came up for the first time last week, but discussion came to a halt mid-meeting — and before any vote was taken — when members left for other meetings and a quorum was lost.

The same House committee on two occasions earlier this year voted down House Bill 1113, which called for moving the Lee observance to Nov. 30 and ending a June 3 memorial for Jefferson Davis.

That bill's sponsor, Bell, R-Mena, argued that the state needs to separate the holidays because the dual observance casts a negative light on Arkansas that hurts economic development. He said he respects Lee and feels there should be a holiday honoring him, just not on the same day as the King observance.

Opponents have contended that shifting the holiday is unnecessary and an affront to Lee's legacy.

Love told members Wednesday he was not trying to "disparage" Lee and believed splitting the holidays is a step toward addressing a "rift" in race relations.

"This bill was not to discourage the history or whatever Robert E. Lee meant to people," Love said afterward. "It was just to separate the holidays. And that was it. So I don't know what the contention in regards to people not being able to vote for the bill."

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