• U.S.

Arizona: A Day to Honor A King

1 minute read
TIME

An organizer of civil rights boycotts during his life, Martin Luther King Jr. is now inspiring a raft of them, 22 years after his death. Two weeks ago, when Arizona voters rejected the creation of a paid state holiday to honor King, the National Football League said it would begin scouting out-of-state locations to replace Phoenix as the site of the 1993 Super Bowl. Last week the list of potential boycotters grew longer with the addition of a heavyweight name: the National League of Cities announced that it would reconsider holding its 1991 convention in Phoenix.

To avert damage to the state economy, Arizona Governor Rose Mofford is suggesting that the legislature consider approving a King holiday. Backers are trying to organize another referendum; opponents vow they will start recall drives against legislators who vote pro-holiday. Meanwhile former Governor Evan Mecham, the man who rescinded the King holiday three years ago, has begun a boisterous fund-raising drive to keep the state calendar King-free.

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