9th MLK day celebrated in AZ

M

Mystech

Adult Supervision Required
Registered Senior Member
Sitting here with the day off from work to reflect upon a great man and his teachings, my thoughts can't help but dwell on how this day might almost not have been.

You see, in Arizona we didn't start observing MLK day until 1996 (Doh or was it '97. . . I'm too lazy to look this stuff up beyond a first page of google responses so I'm just relying on memory). The state was a bit reluctant to pick up the holiday, and wouldn't have done it on it's own, but the NFL (yes the National Football League) put a lot of pressure on us, saying that if we wanted to be considered to host a super bowl we'd have to adopt the holiday. . . and so we did!

I think that's a real powerful statement about what "Middle America" really values. Arizona doesn't give a shit about the civil rights movement, it's just something we watched on TV and our kids read about in books. . . but the Super Bowl. . . that's something tangible and visceral and even practically sacred!

For myself, today isn't just a day to reflect on the journey of many Americans to see the promise of our great nation fulfilled, but also a reminder of just where America's core values are, and what we truly hold dear. . . We'll do anything for you, mighty NFL, just please don't take away our Super Bowl!

It's a bit like the proverbial Christian Child crying on Christmas because he didn't get the toy he really wanted. The supposed true meaning of the day is lost to him, and in fact it's probably a good guess that he never knew it in the first place, all he knows is that he wanted his Spiderman action figure. All Arizona really knows is that it wanted to host the Super Bowl, and if that means being good and sucking up to Santa Clause all year, well then so be it.
 
Gee . . . That was kinda stupid. The state wouldn't observe the holiday until they were threatened with the no-Super-Bowl-for-you card.

It's sad, really.
 
I don't believe states should pick what they can celebrate, it is a day that should be honored, in all aspects, by all states.

Anybody see the mlk fights that happened in Arizona ?
 
I heard about them but to be honest I've been so bussy playing World of Warcraft that I don't even know where exactly the riot was or what it was about. . . I really need to un-plug myself from that gaming crack, especialy now that I'm back in school.
 
It would be nice to have a reason to celebrate MLK Day.

Since the death of MLK, the quality of life for blacks has become much worse:
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/506187/

Since the death of MLK, white socity has bent over backwords and forward in hopes of helping blacks feel more welcome and comfortable here in the U.S. What other race of people have ever made laws against themselfs to make life better for another race of people?
It's to bad blacks take so much injoyment and advantage of the fact many whites today feel so bad for them.
It is a shame that the black community uses MLK day more as a excuse for their failures, then it does for a reason to change for the better.
 
well big D, the reason why we have so many laws in effect is because not too long ago blacks didnt have any rights, they werent allowed to have the same jobs as whites were.they werent allowed to live in the same communities that whites were. and its important to realize that the generation of blacks that were effected by all of this are still alive in alot of cases. just to have to live through that, merrits these laws. so i think that in general blacks are changing thier lives for the better, its just going to take awhile to see significant improvements, and that is understandable in my opinion.
 
Simon
Those laws you speak about are not just for blacks but for Hispanics too. Why for hispanics?

And what about Asians? why are they not part of these "minority" laws? Asians were treated very poorly by the U.S government, even blacks were allowed to vote in America well before Asians were.

I think it is simple, Asians through out time have proved themselfs as people who can take care of themselfs in a civilized manner, blacks and hispanics have never done that.

Interesting read:
http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/3874.php
 
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