The city of Little Rock is backing an effort to encourage the state Legislature to end Arkansas' dual celebration of the birthdays of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.
Both men's birthdays are recognized as a state holiday, jointly celebrated on the third Monday in January.
Arkansas has formally celebrated Lee's birthday since 1947. It didn't recognize King's birthday as a holiday until 1983. In 1985, the Legislature merged the two as a compromise. Efforts to drop the celebration of Lee's birthday in the 1980s failed.
The debate arose again in early 2015 when a notice from the Arkansas secretary of state's office closing the Capitol for the observance of both birthdays caught the attention of national and online media.
Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi are the only states that still jointly celebrate the two men. Lee's home state, Virginia, celebrates his birthday on a separate date, as does King's home state, Georgia.
Ultimately, bills filed to remove the Lee celebration in Arkansas -- and then amended to celebrate Lee's birthday on a different day -- failed to pass through committees in the 2015 legislative session.
In early 2016, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he supported separating the holidays, adding that it should be done during the 2017 legislative session.
On Tuesday, the Little Rock Board of Directors passed a resolution requesting Little Rock's delegation to introduce a bill during the coming session to remove Lee from the celebration of the King holiday.
"The City of Little Rock, Arkansas, thinks that it is more appropriate to honor the work of Dr. King, and that it is preferable to no longer honor with a holiday the events or persons involved in the Civil War," the resolution states.
State Rep. Fredrick Love, D-Little Rock, was one of two who introduced the bill in the 2015 session. He had already said he would again introduce such a bill during the coming legislative session.
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"And I'll continue to do so until we get the holiday separated," he said in March of 2015 when his bill failed to get out of committee.
Ward 6 City Director Doris Wright had Tuesday's resolution about the holidays put on Little Rock's agenda after a citizen spoke to the board earlier this year in opposition of the joint celebration.
Originally, the resolution was placed on the board's consent agenda -- which is voted on in a bloc, and is typically approved unanimously.
City Director Joan Adcock requested that the resolution be voted on separately. She was the only director to vote against the resolution. City Director B.J. Wyrick was absent.
Four audience members signed up to speak in favor of the resolution, and one person signed up to speak against it, but they weren't allowed to talk Tuesday. City Director Gene Fortson motioned to have a vote before discussion on the resolution. His motion was seconded by City Director Brad Cazort and unanimously supported.
After the 8-1 vote, Adcock clarified her opposition.
"I voted no on this, and I would also like to request that any letter that goes to the Legislature does not contain my name on it. I feel like we have enough problems in the city without trying to tell the state what to do. I don't feel like we need to tell them what to do. ... I feel like we need to solve the problems of Little Rock," Adcock said.
It's not uncommon for the board to sponsor a resolution stating the city's stance on an issue before the state Legislature or Congress, particularly when it affects the city. The board penned such a letter last year asking the Arkansas members of Congress to pass a law to collect sales taxes on online purchases, saying failure to do so hurts municipalities' budgets.
Metro on 12/07/2016