Three states make MLK Day a joint holiday with Confederate General Robert E. Lee

Every now and then, if you happen to forget the complicated history of our country, Arkansas, Alabama, and Mississippi will do something to snatch you back into reality.

These three states, all in the American South, have made the federal holiday for Dr. Martin Luther King a joint holiday with the confederate General Robert E. Lee and went out of their way with signage and notices on government buildings to communicate this reality. The irony in Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama being so insistent on honoring General Lee on MLK Day is that Virginia, the state where Lee was born, raised, fought, and died, abandoned this practice decades ago.

While a few Arkansas legislators have created a bill to make the day a singular day to honor Dr. King, the governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson, according to AP, would not commit to making the change, but did say he wanted to figure out how to properly balance the two.

Hutchinson said Wednesday that he hadn't decided whether to support Bell's proposal.

"I haven't thought about it, so I'd have to give it some more thought," Hutchinson said. "History is important to me and we've just got to balance those, obviously."

America.