State rep calls MLK-Robert E. Lee shared holiday ‘offensive’
State Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson, said the measure was touted as a cost-saving maneuver but also said he feels the move was made to slight King.
“Every major issue in the state of Mississippi has the undercurrent of race to it. I wish it wasn’t the case,” Horhn said. “The decision was made as a cost-saving measure, but many people then and now felt that it was a means to not give Dr. King his due and the singularity of recognition.”
Democratic Second District Rep. Bennie Thompson said the combined holiday is “offensive.”
“Once and for all, people should know that the Confederacy lost,” Thompson said. “And Mississippi’s celebrating Robert E. Lee on the same day as Martin Luther King Jr., is just an attempt to diminish Dr. King’s legacy. To celebrate a man who fought to keep people in bondage is offensive, and Robert E. Lee should not be celebrated alongside a great fighter for freedom and equality”
ClarionLedger
1/18/16
Magnolia Tribune
