LETTERS: MLK HOLIDAY MUST BE PRESERVED

To the editor:

Let's set the record straight regarding the efforts of concerned citizens and parents to protect the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. That way, when people who write letters and call Speak Out to cast aspersions on our efforts, they will know our position and what, as one reader termed it, "the big whoopee" is all about. Here are the facts.

No one is suggestion that our children go to school all summer. By state law, the school district is required to hold 174 days -- 1,044 hours -- of classes. The current calendar scheduled 179 days, and we have missed four days due to snow, leaving 175 days available without taking any holidays. We are not in a deficit situation as of this point and still have a day to spare. Additionally, classes are scheduled to end June 2, a Wednesday. Realistically, if we experience more bad weather, school could be extended to the end of that week if necessary, thereby allowing three makeup days without taking anything.

It is not to hot to be in school the first week of June. The weather is mild, even pleasant, in early June, much the same as it was when those who are opposed to a holiday honoring an African American went to school in many of the same buildings. If the children of today will be unable to learn, as school board member David Goncher said, this spring (summer doesn't begin until June 21), then I must question how those writing these letters were able to learn during the same time period.

We are not forgetting Presidents Day. When we first met with the superintendent and later with the entire board, we asked for both days to be reinstated. We are mindful of the fact that Presidents Day is also a national holiday and that it's sole reasons for being in existence was to accommodate Martin Luther King Jr. Day by combining the holidays for Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays. Those who saw television interviews after the board meeting will remember that.

This sends a negative message to the youth and to the community. This action reinforces the belief that Martin Luther King the man, his mission and his legacy were and are expendable. The subtle inference is that Martin was a second-class representative of a second-class people in a time gone by, and that as such is only deserving of a second-class holiday. Dr. King championed the cause of civil rights for all people and sought to make this nation and this world a better place to live for all, regardless of ethnic, religious, gender, age or other considerations.

Dr. King believed in education and would not have wanted children to be out of school for his birthday. this may well be true, but we will never know for sure absent a bullet in our heads. Dr. King's preference was most probably not to have been assassinated as well, but he was. When the trigger was pulled, the shot was aimed at much more than just a black Baptist preacher. It was aimed at the very fabric of this nation. The shot was meant to undermine the diversity that has made America great and to further divide the citizens of this nation, just as the board action is doing. The shot was aimed at all of us. But, just as the Secret Service does for its protectees, Dr. Martin Luther King took the bullet for all of us. That is why the day set aside to honor his memory and work must be protected.

THE REV. DAVID R. ALLEN, Co-chair

The Ad Hoc Committee to Protect the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday

Cape Girardeau