Arkansas is destined to celebrate at least one more of these dual holidays honoring both Dr. Martin Luther King and Robert E. Lee.
Monday was the latest of the state-declared holidays and another will come next January before the Arkansas Legislature meets in regular session.
Hopefully, that 2017 legislative session will mark the end of the dual holiday that honors the black civil rights leader on the same day as the white Civil War general.
There will be sessions of the Legislature before then, but it is 2017 when the debate will be raised anew over separating the holidays.
For the record, the holidays are thrown together in only three states. Mississippi and Alabama are the other two. It is hard not to blame the continued practice on racism.
No amount of praise for Lee's role in the Civil War can justify the way the combination detracts from Arkansas' respect for King.
Seriously, Lee fought a war defending slavery and later worked to keep black people from voting. King led the civil rights movement, seeking to better the lives of blacks in America.
It is an affront to have these holidays combined, but there is a bit of an explanation. It's not a good explanation but it puts the issue in perspective.
Arkansas made Lee's Jan. 19 birthday an official holiday way back in 1947. Note the time period. State lawmakers decided more than 80 years past the end of the Civil War to honor Lee.
Why then?
Maybe it had something to do with the racial climate in Arkansas and the rest of the country in the late 1940s.
These were years leading up to national fights over school segregation and, of course, Little Rock's 1957 integration of Central High School.
Meanwhile, Dr. King was just coming into his own, preaching a nonviolent civil disobedience approach to address injustice and establishing himself as a leader in the ongoing civil rights movement.
He was slain by an assassin's bullet in Memphis in 1968. And it would not be until the mid-1980s that the U.S. established the third Monday in January as a federal holiday to honor King. That's also when Arkansas lawmakers decided to muddy the water by making the day a joint observance for King and Lee.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson's recent comment that he wants to see the joint holiday ended could help make it happen.
But the state lawmaker who led a previous effort to separate the events knows this isn't as simple an idea as it might seem.
"I'm happy the governor is joining the fight, but it's still going to be a fight," said Rep. Fred Love, D-Little Rock, who introduced legislation in 2015 to end the combination.
"It's kind of sad that we're still in this battle."
Those 2015 tries fail because committee hearings that drew crowds defending the continued celebration of both holidays. Multiple votes saw the issue locked down in committee.
Most likely, those same people will be back making the pitch to another Legislature in 2017. The makeup will have changed a bit by then because it will include members elected this year.
The governor, while supportive of the change in 2015, intends to be more involved this time.
He wants a separate day to celebrate King and to recognize his role in the civil rights movement.
"It's important that that day be distinguished and separate and focused on that civil rights struggle and what he personally did in that effort, the great leader he was during that cause," said Hutchinson.
Maybe he can influence more of the Republican-controlled Legislature to get this situation fixed. King deserves better and the state will benefit by recognizing that fact.
Certainly, events honoring Dr. King on this holiday are commonplace now, often inspiring remembrances of the struggle in which he so meaningfully engaged. His teachings are as valuable now as ever.
Lee, on the other hand, is an historic figure, whose birthday may be marked by a few but only a fraction compared to those celebrating King's life.
It is past time to separate these holidays in Arkansas. The combination never should have happened, and it certainly shouldn't continue.
Commentary on 01/20/2016