A Democratic lawmaker in Mississippi is continuing his now-decade-long fight to separate a dual holiday that observes Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert E. Lee on the same day. The state is one of two, alongside Alabama, that celebrates the civil rights icon and the Confederate leader at the same time each year.
Rep. Kabir Karriem, who represents part of Lowndes County and is chair of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, introduced a bill that would officially retire Robert E. Lee Day as a legal holiday in Mississippi and solely reserve the third Monday of every January for King.
He wrote in House Bill 407 that if the legislature “desires to reflect the transformative power of Mississippi from its past to its present by celebrating holidays that wholly reflect the remarkable strides made by all citizens,” lawmakers should not celebrate Lee and King on the same day.
King, who would have been 97 years old last Friday, often visited Mississippi as part of his activism work. He took part in Medgar Evers’ funeral procession in 1963, visited Greenwood in support of the Mississippi Freedom Summer in 1964, and testified in support of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party during the 1964 Democratic National Convention.
Lee was a Confederate general who was appointed overall commander of the Confederate States Army, leading it from 1862 until its surrender to the Union in 1865 during the American Civil War.
Karriem’s bill has been referred to the House Rules Committee, where it requires approval before it can be brought to the full floor for a vote. If passed in the House and Senate and signed by the governor, January 2027 would be the first time that King has had a holiday to himself.