Never forget: Opponents of MLK Day

[ProgressiveEconomist]

Whenever I see on TV former Senator John McCain (R-AZ) or former Rep. Susan Molinari (R-NY), I'm reminded of their 1983 votes against the federal law that made Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday a national holiday.

Here are some more details about historical opposition to MLK Day, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/98th_United_States_Congress .

"Reluctance to observe

Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC) led opposition to the bill and questioned whether King was important enough to receive such an honor. He also criticized King's opposition to the Vietnam War and accused him of espousing 'action-oriented Marxism'.

President Ronald Reagan might also have been opposed to the holiday, citing cost concerns. He grudgingly signed the measure only after Congress passed it with an overwhelming veto-proof majority (338 to 90 in the House of Representatives and 78 to 22 in the Senate). Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) voted against the creation of the holiday to honor King, and later defended Arizona Republican Governor Evan Mecham's rescission of the state holiday in honor of King.... 76% of (AZ) voters rejected the King holiday. Consequently, the state lost $500 million and the Super Bowl, which moved to Pasadena,...

On May 2, 2000, South Carolina governor Jim Hodges signed a bill to make Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday an official state holiday. South Carolina was the last state to recognize the day as a paid holiday for all state employees. Prior to this, employees could choose between celebrating Martin Luther King Day or one of three Confederate holidays. ...

WHAT'S YOUR OPINION?

[bongbong]

1. WTF?

"Prior to this, employees could choose between celebrating Martin Luther King Day or one of three Confederate holidays."

What were the 3 confederate holidays? - LoserDay1, LoserDay2 and LoserDay3?

[ProgressiveEconomist]

2. Great question 4 the SC pols

who'll be in the spotlight for the next week and a half, such as Senators Jim DeMint and Lindsay Graham, along with state and county Republican Party chairpersons.

Other high priority questions for them IMO are:

What's your stance on the SC "Voter ID" law just ruled in violation of the Voting Rights Act? and

Why should arguably the most racist of all states play such an important role in winnowing slates of candidates for President?

[redqueen]

6. The racists who started a civil war because they wanted to keep slaves were on the wrong side.

The parties switched around as a result of the "Southern strategy".

There is no doubt about these facts. There is an effort to rewrite history, but no one with a lick of sense takes those people seriously.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

7. So were the 22 Senators and 90

and 90 Reps who voted against the MLK holiday, IMO. The big difference is that many of those opponents of MLK Day still are around and still are espousing the same views, albeit in code and "dog whistles".

[redqueen]

8. Indeed, they were also very openly on the wrong side.

It seems most of them have learned to talk in code and use dog whistles. Unlike the House Speaker in Kansas.

[spanone]

9. so you are pro-slavery?

[PO2_Mike]

10. that's...

quite a stretch, wouldn't you say.

Considering most people in the south were not slave owners.

Let's not forget that the North still had slaves during the war also, and were very racist also.

I don't understand people that don't study history, who think that the North was some kind of utopia.

[yardwork]

13. Slavery was not legal in the north by the time of the Civil War.

The war was fought because the slave-owning southern states wanted the new western territories to be slave-owning states as well. Certainly there were racists all over the country but don't kid yourself.

[morningfog]

11. I am unclear of your point.

"Just because your (sic) on the losing side does not mean your (sic) on the wrong side."

Are you suggesting the South was, in fact, on the correct side during the Civil War?

[DeathToTheOil]

4. Dave Chappelle had the best line:

"You've gotta be racist as Hell not to wanna take a day off work!"

[redqueen]

5. My opinion is that there's a whole lot of racists in the GOP.

A whole lot.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

12. The 22 nay-sayers in the Senate:

Last edited Mon Jan 16, 2012, 09:15 PM - Edit history (1)

The 22 nay-sayers in the Senate:

I'd forgotten how many current Senators voted against the King holiday.

From http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=s1983-293
Senate Vote #293 (Oct 19, 1983)
TO PASS H.R. 3706.

Number: Senate Vote #293 in 1983 [data from Professor Keith Poole]
Date: Oct 19, 1983
Result: Passed

Vote Overview

Totals Democrats Republicans Independents
Aye: 78 (78%) 41 37 0
Nay: 22 (22%) 4 18 0

Nay AK Murkowski, Frank (R)
Nay AZ Goldwater, Barry (R)
Nay ID McClure, James (R)

Nay ID Symms, Steven (R)
Nay IA Jepsen, Roger (R)
Nay IA Grassley, Charles (R)

Nay MS Stennis, John (D)
Nay NE Exon, J. (D)
Nay NE Zorinsky, Edward (D)

Nay NV Hecht, Jacob (R)
Nay NH Humphrey, Gordon (R)
Nay NH Rudman, Warren (R)

Nay NC East, John (R)
Nay NC Helms, Jesse (R)
Nay OK Nickles, Don (R)

Nay SD Pressler, Larry (R)
Nay SD Abdnor, James (R)
Nay TX Tower, John (R)

Nay UT Garn, Edwin (R)
Nay UT Hatch, Orrin (R)
Nay WV Randolph, Jennings (D)

Nay WY Wallop, Malcolm (R)

[Dawson Leery]

15. No suprise to see Orrin Hatch on that list.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

16. But he was such a strong supporter of

Clarence Thomas for Supreme Court!

(end sarcasm)

[ProgressiveEconomist]

14. The 90 naysayers in the House

The 90 naysayers in the House:

Note that it was Guy Molinari, not Susan as I erroneously stated in the OP, who numbered among 5 NY Republicans voting against the King holiday.ed

From http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h1983-289 :

House Vote #289 (Aug 2, 1983)
TO SUSPEND THE RULES AND PASS H.R. 3706, A BILL AMENDING TITLE 5, UNITED STATES
CODE TO MAKE THE BIRTHDAY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., A LEGAL PUBLIC HOLIDAY.
(MOTION PASSED;2/3 REQUIRED)

Number: House Vote #289 in 1983 [data from Professor Keith Poole]
Date: Aug 2, 1983

Vote Overview
Totals Democrats Republicans Independents
Aye: 338 (78%) 249 89 0
Nay: 90 (21%) 13 77 0
Not Voting: 5 (1%) 4 1 0

Not Voting HI-1 Heftel, Cecil (D)
Not Voting ID-2 Hansen, George (R)
Not Voting NY-21 Scheuer, James (D)
Not Voting OR-4 Weaver, James (D)
Not Voting RI-1 St. Germain, Fernand (D)

01 Nay AL-02 Dickinson, William (R)
02 Nay AL-04 Nichols, William (D)
03 Nay AL-07 Shelby, Richard (D)

04 Nay AZ-01 McCain, John (R)
05 Nay AZ-03 Stump, Robert (R)
06 Nay AZ-04 Rudd, Eldon (R)

07 Nay AR-03 Hammerschmidt, John (R)
08 Nay CA-13 Lagomarsino, Robert (R)
09 Nay CA-14 Shumway, Norman (R)

10 Nay CA-17 Pashayan, Charles (R)
11 Nay CA-20 Moorhead, Carlos (R)
12 Nay CA-21 Fiedler, Bobbi (R)

13 Nay CA-35 Dreier, David (R)
14 Nay CA-37 McCandless, Alfred (R)
15 Nay CA-39 Dannemeyer, William (R)

16 Nay CA-40 Badham, Robert (R)
17 Nay CA-43 Packard, Ron (R)
18 Nay CO-04 Brown, George (R)

19 Nay CO-05 Kramer, Kenneth (R)
20 Nay CO-06 Schaefer, Daniel (R)
21 Nay FL-01 Hutto, Earl (D)

22 Nay FL-05 McCollum, Bill (R)
23 Nay FL-08 Ireland, Andrew (D)
24 Nay FL-08 Young, C. W. (R)

25 Nay FL-09 Bilirakis, Michael (R)
26 Nay GA-03 Ray, Richard (D)
27 Nay GA-07 McDonald, Lawrence (D)

28 Nay GA-09 Jenkins, Edgar (D)
29 Nay ID-01 Craig, Larry (R)
30 Nay IL-13 Crane, Philip (R)

31 Nay IL-14 Erlenborn, John (R)
32 Nay IL-16 Martin, Lynn (R)
33 Nay IL-22 Crane, Daniel (R)

34 Nay IA-02 Tauke, Thomas (R)
35 Nay KS-03 Winn, Edward (R)
36 Nay KY-03 Snyder, Marion (R)

37 Nay KY-05 Rogers, Harold (R)
38 Nay LA-06 Moore, William (R)
39 Nay MD-04 Holt, Marjorie (R)

40 Nay MI-02 Pursell, Carl (R)
41 Nay MN-03 Frenzel, William (R)
42 Nay MN-07 Stangeland, Arlan (R)

43 Nay MS-02 Franklin, William (R)
44 Nay MS-04 Montgomery, Gillespie (D)
45 Nay MS-05 Lott, Trent (R)

46 Nay MO-07 Taylor, Gene (R)
47 Nay MT-02 Marlenee, Ronald (R)
48 Nay NE-03 Smith, Virginia (R)

49 Nay NV-02 Vucanovich, Barbara (R)
50 Nay NH-02 Gregg, Judd (R)
51 Nay NM-01 Lujan, Manuel (R)

52 Nay NY-01 Carney, William (R)
53 Nay NY-17 Molinari, Guy (R)
54 Nay NY-29 Solomon, Gerald (R)

55 Nay NY-30 Martin, David (R)
56 Nay NY-37 Conable, Barber (R)
57 Nay NC-09 Martin, James (R)

58 Nay OH-05 Latta, Delbert (R)
59 Nay OH-08 Kindness, Thomas (R)
60 Nay OH-10 Miller, Clarence (R)

61 Nay OH-18 Applegate, Douglas (D)
62 Nay OR-02 Smith, Dennis (R)
63 Nay OR-02 Smith, Robert (R)

64 Nay PA-09 Shuster, Bill (R)
65 Nay PA-19 Goodling, William (R)
66 Nay PA-23 Clinger, William (R)

67 Nay SC-02 Spence, Floyd (R)
68 Nay SC-04 Campbell, Carroll (R)
69 Nay TN-01 Quillen, James (R)

70 Nay TN-07 Sundquist, Donald (R)
71 Nay TX-01 Hall, Sam (D)
72 Nay TX-03 Bartlett, Harry (R)

73 Nay TX-06 Gramm, Phil (R)
74 Nay TX-07 Archer, Bill (R)
75 Nay TX-08 Fields, Jack (R)

76 Nay TX-11 Leath, James (D)
77 Nay TX-17 Stenholm, Charles (D)
78 Nay TX-21 Loeffler, Thomas (R)

79 Nay TX-22 Paul, Ronald (R)
80 Nay UT-01 Hansen, James (R)
81 Nay UT-02 Marriott, David (R)

82 Nay UT-03 Nielson, Howard (R)
83 Nay VT-00 Jeffords, James (R)
84 Nay VA-01 Bateman, Herbert (R)

85 Nay VA-02 Whitehurst, George (R)
86 Nay VA-05 Daniel, Wilbur (D)
87 Nay VA-07 Robinson, James (R)

88 Nay WI-06 Petri, Thomas (R)
89 Nay WI-08 Roth, Toby (R)
90 Nay WI-09 Sensenbrenner, F. (R)