By The Way
Remembering our common cause on Martin Luther King Jr. Day
How we can benefit from the holiday.
Since 1986, the third Monday of January each year has been observed as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, although the federal holiday was not observed as such by all 50 states until 1999. Although, unlike Washington’s Birthday, it has not yet suffered the indignity of becoming an excuse for launching weekend-long mattress and furniture sales, it seems to me this civil-rights leader’s observance in some ways hasn’t risen to the same tier of some other federal holidays. Why is that? Maybe, in our own way, Americans are quietly drawing closer to embracing the double-vision reality of our heritage. Our greatest qualities − our courage, vision and determination to grow and overcome − have at times come at undeniable, unbearable cost. When, last year…
