77-24-B2

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Martin Luther King

Transcript A very questionable proposal has been made for a holiday to honor slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Somehow I doubt that he would consider it an honor. I'll be right back. Perhaps by the time you hear this Governor Milliken of Michigan will have signed into law a new additional holiday for Michigan state employees. I hope not, and I'm not against holidays. Michigan state Senate has voted to change the official observance of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday from the Sunday nearest to January 15th, to a working day, the Monday nearest that date. This would apply to state courts and banks. It seems that in our increasingly government-controlled economy, banks in Michigan are subject to unusually tight controls. It's a natural assumption in the Wolverine State that the holiday would apply to other state employees as well. One senator, Jack Welburn, stood alone in opposition to the plan. It took courage, because obviously he would appear as a callous individual, opposed to the idea of honoring the slain Reverend King. This, of course, could lead to the additional charge of racism. Well, Senator Jack Welburn is neither callous nor racist, but what he had in mind was something far more suitable as a memorial than a paid holiday for public employees. For the most part, they average a higher pay rate than the taxpayers who provide their salaries. The additional holiday for state employees would, or maybe by now will, cost the state of Michigan more than four and a half million dollars. But it wasn't the money that caused Jack Welburn to vote “No.” What he proposed instead was something in the nature of a living memorial to the victim of an assassin's bullet. He offered two programs which would cost roughly the same as the proposed holiday. One would be in the form of Martin Luther King scholarships for disadvantaged students. The other would fund an institute to study non-violent, put the emphasis on, non-protest activities, so that maybe one day we can find an answer to senseless and tragic killings. The value of the first is obvious and certainly the second is appropriate considering the manner in which Dr King lost his life. Welburn also pointed out that middle class state employees vacationing at the expense of hard-working citizens, some of whom are low-income laborers, is hardly a fitting way to honor someone who gave his life in the cause of social justice for the disadvantaged. State Senator Jack Welburn was alone not only in his no vote against the holiday he was also alone in his proposal for the scholarships and the study program and in my opinion he was certainly alone among his colleagues in the Michigan state Senate in the exercise of common sense. It seems to me that just possibly Dr. King would approve of Jack Welburn's vote and his proposals. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening.		Details Batch Number 77-24-B2 Production Date 11/29/1977 Book/Page RihoH-385 Audio Yes Youtube? No
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