Thanks for visiting the blog. I hope you enjoyed the film The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306. Read over the following, then respond in the comments below.
There are always questions that come up surrounding the issue about whether or not we should be celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I recently came across two interesting spins on that old argument.
Should we celebrate MLK Day by taking a day off from school, or should we use that day in school to focus on the accomplishments of MLK and his legacy? I often wonder about this as it relates to most holidays that call for a day off - Memorial Day, Labor Day, and MLK Day.
The second issue that has come up this year is about whether we should replace MLK Day with a more general Civil Rights Day (similar to what was done with Presidents Day). It would be a day to recognize important events and people related to the civil rights movement.
I'd like to know your thoughts about these two issues. Try to think outside the student ideas of "lets get out of school as much as possible," and take a serious look at the issue.
If you have difficulty figuring out how to comment, just let me know in class and I'll help you.
Yes, if people actually go to a parade or event celebrating the event. Just like Christmas people go to church or have a Christmas meal. But if they just sit at home watching television and sleeping then they shouldn't have a day off. They should take the day to read a biography about him or watch a play. Condensing the holiday into a Civil Rights Holiday should be done but on July 2 when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was put into place. I wouldn't want someone to make my birthday about someone else.
ReplyDeleteInteresting thoughts. I like the idea about using July 2.
DeleteI think that we should get a day off from school/work to celebrate and remember his achievement and what huge impact he had on America. I do also think that the day should be called Civil Rights Day because it brought civil rights to America and so we can celebrate all the civil rights in America because there are some civil rights movements that most people don't know about or are looked over.
ReplyDeleteI believe we should have they day off from school to commorate the civil rights activists and their ideas. If students are just rushing around from class to class or working on homework/going to practice, they will not have the time to recognize the significant events that occurred. I also think that it should not be called Martin Luther King day because, while he was a key player, there were many others that contributed to the reform of social and political structure. Therefore a more broad term would be more appropriate to celebrate activists including Rosa Parks, MLK, and all other activists with contributions large and small.
ReplyDeleteI think that we should still get a day off for MLK day as long as we stress the fact that the reason we get a day off of school is because of Martin Luther King Jr. and his accomplishments. That way people would actually think about MLK on MLK day instead of just having a day off. I dont think that we should rename it Civil Rights Day because the holiday was made to honor Martin Luther King, so we shouldnt take that away from him.
DeleteIn my opinion,Martin Luther King Jr. day should be removed and replaced with a Civil Rights day as suggested the other day during class. When Mr. Veliz asked for a show of hands for the people who actually reflected on the life of Martin Luther King on their day off, not necessarily in my class, but in other classes only a small fraction of students had their hands raised. Not as many people in the United States take this day off to reflect on Martin's life as they should. There is also the factor that no other people that influenced and participate in the Civil Rights movement get recognition just as Mr. King does. If there was a Civil Rights day, we wouldn't just be focused on one person, but many people and events. Also, the recognition should be done through school activities and projects that day. That way students will actually take the time to reflect and learn more on the Civil Rights Movement.
DeleteI believe that we should have a day off from school for MLK day because it allows us to recognize (arguably) one of the greatest people in history. If we still went to school or work, we wouldn't have the option to remember Martin Luther King or not. Many teachers would still assign normal classwork and homework, and workers would spend there day working, but not in memory of MLK. Having the day off allows citizens to take responsibility and decide for themselves if they would like to take time to remember him. If people do not want to, they should not have to. I think there should be another separate day for civil rights on a more specific date to it. Also, civil rights is already a broad topic and adding MLK to it would only make it less specific.
ReplyDeleteIf we are given the day off from school, the community should make it a priority to give people things to do relating to MLK day. Things such as parades, shows, and ceromonies give people a chance to interact and learn more about the holiday. If this does not occur, than we should be attending school on the third Monday of January. But, I do believe the holiday should be changed to Civil Rights Day.
ReplyDeleteI think that we should not change MLK day to a Civil Rights Day. We should leave it as a holiday to honor him because he was the key person of the Civil Rights Movement. If MLK hadn't existed, the Civil Rights Movement may have never happened, and even if it did, it never would have had the same effect. Martin Luther King Jr. should be honored individually because of how influential he was. I also think that we should have a day off, so we can actually think about MLK and not be stressed over schoolwork.
ReplyDeleteI think we should change MLK day to Civil Rights Day, people already glorify (no offense) Martin Luther King Jr. Sure, he was a major and memorable point for civil rights, but there are other contributing people who deserve to be remembered as well. Instead of dictating a holiday to one single man we should try to recognize all those who have helped us down the path to where we are today. Gay rights, women rights, aren't they just as important as the rights for African Americans? And, I believe we should take a day off to commemorate all those who have sacrificed so much for us to have the lifestyles we do today. Contemplate on the work and effort strangers have put hours, months, years of their lives so that we can all be equal. Don't they deserve to be as renowned and admired as the man who had a dream?
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I believe on MLK day, we should have a holiday. In schools, teachers usually say that they are going to celebrate MLK but instead gives students homework totally unrelated to MLK from my past experiences. (No offense to teachers) I also agree that we should have some sort of celebration out side of school, but I can see how the government might turn that down.
ReplyDeleteWhy should we have a holiday on MLK day? Well because it is MLK's day. If he didn't fight for peace would we be in this position today? Would there still be "war" going on? Well I don't know and I wouldn't want to know. This also goes for the other topic, "Should we replace MLK day with Civil Rights Day?". I would arguably say no to this one as well. I mean of course they all fought for the same things.. But look at MLK, he fought, he made a difference, and was assassinated. Even in Hiroshima, Japan they celebrate MLK day. He really made a huge impact, this is why we should allow MLK to be a holiday and not be changed to Civil Rights Day.
In all honesty, I think in the end, a lot of people see the day as an opportunity to get out of school. I like my day off as much as any other person, but I don't necessarily think it serves the majority as a day off. I believe the day is to remember Martin Luther King Jr, and what he stood for, and how he impacted our country, but it's not one of those holidays to all get together with family and miss work/school. Martin Luther King Jr was an incredibly important person, and I think to many, he stands as the figurehead of the Civil Rights Movement. People already celebrate this day as not only a day to honor him, but to honor the whole movement. I don't think the name really affects the day, or how people celebrate it.
ReplyDeleteFor the first issue, I believe that the day should be taken off as opposed to staying in school and focusing on his accomplishments and his legacy because I feel that besides the fact that you really wouldn't need to "relearn" it every single year on that day, it would also futher impede on students appreciation of Martin Luther King jr. since many students now often don't realize how big of a change he made in the fact that they don't know what the segregation was like back then. As for the other controversy, I believe that the name should not be changed because it is to honor the death of the man assassinated fighting for a just cause, and although there are many other civil rights advocates that contributed to the fight for rights, I feel it is unfitting to change the name of the day because unlike presidents day, this was more than just a rememberance.
ReplyDeleteI believe that we should get a day off for MLK Day. If we were to attend school on MLK day in most case the only class that would be concerned with honor MLK is history. Having the day off from school and work allows time for students, teachers, and workers to honor MLK. However, I also believe that MLK Day should be changed to Civil Rights Day. So many people worked to gain civil rights and these people are not honored with a day like MLK and they should be celebrated. Many people, such as Rosa Parks deserve to have a day to celebrate them.
ReplyDeleteWhether or not we have school, I don't think anything would change when it comes to celebrating MLK Day. We have grown so accustomed to celebrating holidays created by Hallmark that we will never sit down and truly devote time to celebrate an important historical figure for a whole day. There are so many distractions with all the technology that one would only be able to focus on celebrating someone for at most an hour at a time. When it come to creating a Civil Rights Day, I think it would be a great idea to celebrate the movement as a whole, but as I said, over time it will just be treated as another day.
ReplyDeleteOther than the fact that I love having a day off of school, I think we should have a day to celebrate the civil rights movement. I think at some point, it should be changed to a "Civil Rights Day," but it should be changed on a date that means something. In my opinion, it should be changed in 2029, on the 100th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's birth. If we have this "Civil Rights Day" we would have a much better opportunity to celebrate the civil rights movement as a whole, many people were involved other than MLK.
ReplyDeleteagree that we should have a day off to celebrate the success of the Civil Rights Movement. As many people above have posted on this blog, school and work would just distract us from celebrating this day. In addition, I also believe that MLK Day should be renamed to Civil Rights Day because Martin Luther King Jr. was not the only person who participated in the Civil Rights Movement, although he is one of the most important figures in it. After all, we aren't celebrating his whole life, but rather the accomplishments of Martin Luther King Jr. and countless other men, women, and children.
DeleteI think that the only reason why we have this day off (and we should) is to juice American with some of that delicious patriotism. Events in history should be noted, but not celebrated to such a degree. There are many other historical events that we could celebrate, but we decide not to. Patriotism PATriotism PATRIOTISM!!!!
ReplyDeleteI love having a day off to relax but I think that even if we are at home or at school we should think about how Martin Luther King is the reason we are out of school and we should so something to honor him. I think that the name should be changed to Civil Rights Day sometime in the future but not right now it should be on a special day in the future when it is relevant to that
ReplyDeleteAs much as I would love to say that we should have a day off, it would be much more educational to spend the day in school and dedicate it towards learning about civil rights.This leads me to my next point, I believe that instead of MLK day, we should have a Civil Rights Day or something of that mater so we can not only recognize Martin Luther King, but every other civil rights leader.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Demi; while I love my days off from school, we should come to school and our sole focus be on Martin Luther's life and legacy. He put so much of his time and dedication into gaining equal rights for all citizens', including African-Americans; why cant we show him respect for that? In addition, during Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, etc., every day of the month should be devoted to an individual, event, or topic related to that ethnicity's history (i.e. colorism, Civil Rights Act, Sonia Sotomayor, etc.)
ReplyDeletePersonally I stand with those who say that we should come to school on MLK day. I believe in this idea because if we think about it, currently the day has no other meaning to us other than that its a day off of school. His works should be remembered and the efforts that he put in which led to the country that we have today where all races come together and are able to say "I am an American." But if the day was to be a day off with a parade or festivities celebrating the day isn't bad either. For the Civil Rights Day, I think thats a great idea, but ,like if there was a day off, there should be celebrations or things that spark memories of the efforts people put in to change society.
ReplyDeleteI believe we should celebrate MLK Day by taking the day off from school. After all these years of celebrating this holiday by taking the day off, I'm sure there would be plenty of criticism and refusal if we all of a sudden declared that the day was to be spent in school commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr. I also know for a fact that many teachers would take advantage of the day and not take the time to remember this hero at all. In addition, I also think we should replace MLK Day with a more general Civil Rights Day. Many people are completely oblivious to the plethora of people besides MLK who helped out the civil rights movement. This day would serve as one that would remember everybody who contributed to the movement, as well as the insanely famous (and rightfully so) MLK.
ReplyDelete