Working On The Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday
The Message Sent By Corporations Who Don’t Observe MLK Day
I’ve spent the past 11 years working for employers who do not observe the federally recognized Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. When I questioned why that was, I was told that the company’s leave policy was generous and that I could use leave if I wanted to observe the holiday.
To give you a little perspective, I am a black woman. My parents were wed on January 15th, 1972, the birthday of Dr. King (4 years after his assassination). I was 8 years old when the first federal observance of the holiday occurred in 1986 (a bit more than two years after the bill was signed into law in 1983).
Now, for many who are younger than me, it’s easy to take the existence of MLK Day for granted. Perhaps they’re unaware of the arduous advocacy that paved the way for the holiday’s creation. They grew up in a country where the image of Dr. King has been whitewashed to be sanitized and comfortable — palatable enough for even conservatives to embrace.
So, how is it that after 34 years of federal observance, I still find myself working on the day designated to commemorating the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? Why does the well-meaning white management not recognize the message that their lack of observance sends both within the company and outside of it?
It’s definitely not because they’re horrible, Alt-Right, white nationalists. It’s not that they value my contributions by day and then go home to spout white supremacist ideology. And yet…
Dr. King’s Own Words
Why does the denial of company-wide support for MLK Day upset me so much? Let’s take a look at Dr. King’s own words about white moderates (a.k.a., “well-meaning whites”).
“First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice;”
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr (Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963)
Sure, it’s possible for my employers to look at me, a STEM professional with two master’s degrees and a healthy salary, and assume that whatever they’re doing must be working. There’s no need upset the status quo (i.e., the current holiday schedule).
“Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr (Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963)
My frustration stems from the fact that people who “don’t have a racist bone in their body” can be aware of racial and gender inequities in society and our industry and yet not see a problem with opting out of observing MLK Day.
“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.”
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr (Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963)“… the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.”
- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr (Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963)
Listen to Dr. King read his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” or read the original for yourself.
Being Well-Meaning Isn’t Enough
But, isn’t observing MLK Day symbolic? Well…yes and no.
The day is certainly symbolic in part because so much racism continues to hinder racial progress.
“There is no such thing as a nonracist or race-neutral policy. Every policy in every institution in every community in every nation is producing or sustaining either racial inequity or equity between racial groups.”
― Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, (How to Be an Antiracist, 2019)
There are still states in this country in the year 2020 that celebrate confederate general Robert E. Lee alongside the birthday of Dr. King. That’s why giving employees the day off matters. It symbolizes an active commitment on the part of an organization to value racial equality and societal equity and justice.
“Incorrect conceptions of race as a social construct (as opposed to a power construct) of racial history as a single march of racial progress (as opposed to a duel of antiracist and racist progress), of the race problem as rooted in ignorance and hate (as opposed to powerful self-interest) — all come together to produce solutions bound to fail. Terms and sayings like ‘I’m not racist’ and ‘race-neutral’ and ‘post-racial’ and ‘color-blind’ and ‘only one race, the human race’ and ‘only racists speak about race’ and ‘Black people can’t be racist’ and ‘White people are evil’ are bound to fail in identifying and eliminating racist power and policy.”
― Dr. Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist
That said, the holiday is also so much more than just symbolic. In 1994, Congress designated the commemoration of Dr. King’s birthday as a national day of service, the only federal holiday of its kind. It has been set aside to to encourage Americans to take action to actively move us closer to Dr. King’s vision.
I hope that one day, my employer (and so many others) will begin observing MLK Day. Perhaps they’ll even recognize the holiday as an opportunity to organize company-wide service to put our values in action.
