Biloxi, Mississippi, disses MLK, names holiday ‘Great Americans Day’

City officials in Biloxi, Mississippi declares that Martin Luther King Day would be recognized there as “Great Americans Day.” In an effort to diminish the importance of the American federal holiday honoring the birthday slain civil rights leader. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year and was signed into law in 1983 by late president Ronald Reagan.

In fact, the state of Mississippi officially celebrates MLK Day on the same day that it remembers the birth of Civil War general Robert E. Lee, whose birthday is January 19.

The official Twitter account announcing Great Americans Day invited so much ire and rebuke, a response was published on the official website for the city of Biloxi which reads:

Biloxi Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich, responding to a flurry of comments about a city tweet today referring to Monday as “Great Americans Day,” believes the Biloxi City Council on Tuesday should take steps to update the city’s Code of Ordinances to reflect the official federal name of the holiday, “Birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” commonly known as “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.”

“In my opinion,” Gilich said, “that is the appropriate step to take, for the holiday to have the same name as the federal holiday.”

Added the mayor: “This city’s longstanding support of our annual MLK celebrations speaks volumes about our support for this holiday. In fact, we’ve always celebrated this day as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.”

The issue arose this afternoon when the city tweeted a one-line sentence that said non-emergency city offices would be closed on Monday  “in observance of Great Americans Day.” The name has since been traced back to a City Council on Dec. 23, 1985 to proclaim the third Monday of every January “to honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as other great Americans who have made important contributions to the birth, growth and evolution of this country.”

The mayor chimed in an tweeted: From Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich: “As far as I’m concerned, it’s called ‘Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.'”

My guess is this, the mayor wants no part of tourism loss due to this dismissal of King’s legacy that preceded his term in office. Biloxi is a resort town that lies on the shore of the Gulf of Mexico.