Monday is a national holiday in honor of Dr. King. Our government, schools, banks and many offices will be closed. But, like so many of our holidays from the generic Presidents’ Day to Memorial Day to Veterans Day, we celebrate the day off but not the meaning of the day. Thanksgiving has turned into a national obsession to shop for Christmas gifts while forgetting why we are thankful and why we are giving gifts.
The commercialization of our civic and religious days ultimately blinds us to our beliefs as citizens and as a moral people. We need to reflect on the reasons why we have chosen to commemorate these few days in the year. The reasons are at the core and soul of who we are as a nation and a people. We should not be too busy or in too much of a hurry to forget what binds us together as Americans.
Our first civic holiday of the year is in honor of Martin Luther King. Before we rush out to the stores or a barbeque or just sit on the couch, let’s consider why we have chosen to remember this man. King recognized that a nation that said it believed in one thing but practiced another could not be truly great. The chasm between its stated principals and the way it behaved would eventually rupture and destroy our nation.
From the founding of the United States, we had the glowing rhetoric of Jefferson and the founders’ promises. Sadly, those promises were applied only to a very select group. In 1776, not only did the color of your skin matter, but your gender, religion and even whether you owned property determined if you could participate in government or hold office. Through the years, more and more Americans were accepted and were allowed to participate fully as citizens. Then, with Dr. King’s leadership, the last barriers to full civil equality began to tumble. The Plessey doctrine of “separate but equal” was no longer acceptable.
On Monday, we need to remember the time when your skin color determined where you went to school or rode on a bus. And, we need to remember the reasons for all our holidays. They were not proclaimed and instituted for a car sale or a football game. Those days are holidays to celebrate what we believe as a nation and as a people. Yes it is fine to relax and enjoy the day off, but never forget the reasons behind that day of leisure.