LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Two Arkansas legislators said Wednesday it is inappropriate to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and the leader of the Confederate Army on the same day and proposed ending the state’s decades-old tradition of honoring Robert E. Lee.
Arkansas is one of just three states to jointly celebrate King, the black civil-rights leader, and Lee, the white Confederate general, on the third Monday of January. Some have labeled the practice incongruous, and most public celebrations center on King.
Rep. Nate Bell, R-Mena, said that while he has “absolute and total respect” for Lee, and that his own daughter attended Washington & Lee University in Virginia, honoring both men together highlights racial divides.
“There are people who profit from racial division,” he said. “It needs to be off the table.”
Rep. Fredrick J. Love, D-Little Rock, also introduced a bill Wednesday ending the holiday.