A pair of state representatives from different political parties both filed their own legislation that would cut the name of an iconic Confederate general from the state holiday honoring a great civil-rights leader.
Rep. Nate Bell, R-Mena, and Rep. Fred Love, D-Little Rock, respectively filed House bills 1113 and 1119, which would eliminate state observance of Robert E. Lee's birthday, which is now celebrated the same day as Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.
Arkansas has celebrated Robert E. Lee's birthday since 1947; it didn't recognize King's birthday as a holiday until 1983, according to officials from the secretary of state's office.
In 1985, the Legislature merged the two, which have been recognized in tandem every year since.
Lee was born on Jan. 19, 1807; King entered the world on Jan. 15, 1929. Both births are celebrated on the third Monday in January.
Former state Democratic Sen. Bill Walker said it was encouraging to see that there was bipartisan support in the Legislature to give King his own day.
Walker fought, unsuccessfully, for an independent Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the 1980s.
"Frankly speaking, we didn't have enough people, enough votes to do it. [Honoring both], it was a settlement," Walker said. "It's essential to move forward and to get away from things that compromised the day of commemoration."
Bell said he thought it was time to move past the Lee holiday and get in line with the rest of the country.
"My daughter attended Washington and Lee University, I certainly respect Gen. Lee," Bell said. "But we've had a number of military generals over the years, Gen. Patton, Gen. MacArthur, they don't have holidays."
Calls and an email to Love were not returned Wednesday.
On Monday, an image of a notice from the secretary of state's office, one closing the Capitol for observance of both King and Lee's birthdays, went viral and drew criticism from multiple national media organizations, including Slate magazine and MSNBC.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mark Martin announced that he supported both legislators' efforts to take Lee's name off the calendar.
The legislation faces some opposition. Tom Bird, heritage operations chairman for the Arkansas Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said his organization avoids politics but that he personally believes the legislation is a bad idea.
"Political correctness" should not prevent Arkansans from honoring Lee's memory, he said.
"Most people do not know history and have not studied the real Robert E. Lee," he said. "Robert E. Lee was an extremely great man, a very Christian man."
Rep. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, said he saw a lot of concern via social media about pairing a defender of the Confederacy and slave owners with the champion of civil rights and desegregation.
He said he agreed that the juxtaposition wasn't appropriate and that it was time that state lawmakers do something about it.
"It's not an attempt to forget what happened and part of our history," Leding said. "There's a difference between understanding history and appearing to celebrate it."
When asked whether the irony prodded him to file legislation, Bell shook his head.
"No, that doesn't bother me. Personally, it's more of an issue of practicality. Clearly a lot of people like to put racial overtones into that situation ... I think it's better that we eliminate the way people see that," Bell said. "The way we begin to move past race in this country is largely to stop recognizing it. And so, I want to see us have less discussion of it and not more."
Saying he meant no disrespect to Lee's military record, state NAACP President Dale Charles said he also thought the legislation was overdue.
"[King] was about humanity. And that [King] would take in any race, creed or color that was not given the same privileges or rights under the Constitution as everyone else," Charles said. "He deserves a holiday on his own because of the fact that his movement was making a difference in the United States."
If enacted, only two states would continue to celebrate the Confederate general and King on the same day: Alabama and Mississippi.
Virginia, Lee's home state, celebrates Lee's birthday, along with another Confederate general, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, on Jan. 16. Georgia also celebrates Lee's birthday but does so in November.
Bill Kopsky, the head of the Arkansas Public Policy Panel, which describes itself as an organization that advocates for social and economic justice, said the symbolism is important.
"It's an embarrassment to Arkansas. We [look] out of step nationally," Kopsky said. "It's a good move. But we think far and away it's not the only civil-rights [related] legislation we need."