Mississippi city renames 'Great Americans Day' to honor MLK

[DonViejo]

Source: Associated Press

MONDAY, JAN 16, 2017 03:00 PM EST

BILOXI, Miss. (AP) — A Mississippi city has decided to ditch “Great Americans Day” and rename it to honor Martin Luther King Jr.

The Biloxi City Council voted 6-0 to make the change Monday. The Sun Herald reports (http://bit.ly/2jspo2W ) the vote came moments before the beginning of an annual parade honoring the slain civil rights leader.

Monday was a federal holiday and was recognized in most of the United States as MLK Day. In three states — Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas — the holiday has a dual designation honoring King and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The change follows an uproar on social media that erupted after a Biloxi spokesman posted that city offices would be closed for Great Americans Day. The name came from a city ordinance adopted in 1985.

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Read more: http://www.salon.com/2017/01/16/mississippi-city-renames-great-americans-day-to-honor-mlk/

[Ken Burch]

1. At least they EVENTUALLY fixed it.

[dsc]

2. I worked in Mississippi form 95 to 97

and when I worked there we had the day off but we could choose between honoring Jefferson Davis or MLK. I have no idea if that has been fixed yet but I honestly doubt it.

[skylucy]

3. OMG. I thought when I read about the city council person using the term Great Americans Day that

it was just that one council member. Now I see that Biloxi actually called it that. Unbelievable. And sickening. At least they have changed it. And now we can watch as the racists whine about "political correctness."

[JohnnyRingo]

4. Credit where credit is due

Sure, it's late coming, but the unanimous vote is telling. They did the right thing.

[Historic NY]

5. Power of Positive Persuasion: