Controversy, Criticism, and Social Views
Some people have objected to honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. and Christopher Columbus with holidays. In particular, Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina opposed the creation of Martin Luther King Day. As a result, Martin Luther King Day took several years to gain national acceptance and is called "Civil Rights Day" in some locations. Some local jurisdictions observe "Indigenous Peoples of the Americas Day" instead of "Columbus Day". Similarly, public schools in the US increasingly refer to the vacation taken near and after Christmas (traditionally, "Christmas Break") as "Winter Holiday" or "Winter Break", avoiding the implication that all students are obligated to observe Christian holidays.
Read more about this topic: Federal Holidays In The United States
Famous quotes containing the words social and/or views:
“I am heartily tired of this life of bondage, responsibility, and toil. I wish it was at an end.... We are both physically very healthy.... Our tempers are cheerful. We are social and popular. But it is one of our greatest comforts that the pledge not to take a second term relieves us from considering it. That was a lucky thing. It is a reform—or rather a precedent for a reform, which will be valuable.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“But of all the views of this law [universal education] none is more important, none more legitimate, than that of rendering the people the safe, as they are the ultimate, guardians of their own liberty.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)