TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — As Floridians gathered on Monday to celebrate the legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., another holiday loomed just days away on the state calendar — the birthday of Confederate general Robert E. Lee.
It's just one of three Confederate holidays still recognized by the state of Florida.
The state's list of legal holidays includes Lee's Jan. 19 birthday, along with Confederate Memorial Day on April 26 and the June 3 birthday of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.
While these century-old holidays may not be widely celebrated, state lawmakers have argued that their removal would be symbolic of progress in racial equality.
In recent years, there have been several efforts by Florida Democrats to scrap the days from the state calendar. Sen. Lauren Book has filed three separate bills to remove the designations along with protections for the Confederate flag — all of them died in the community affairs stage.
State Rep. Mike Grieco filed a similar bill in the Florida House, too, but it didn't pass the legislature.
Florida isn't the only one still recognizing what some would call antiquated holidays dating back to the late 1800s. Ten states, all from the south, observe at least one confederate holiday, according to an Axios report.
"It is a diminishing reality that people even recognize and celebrate those Confederate days," NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson told Axios."We must completely do away with any concept that the Confederacy and those who participated were patriots."
Like the holidays, several Confederate monuments remain standing across Florida and the entire U.S. Officials in Manatee County are even considering restoring and replacing a Jim Crow-era Confederate statue that was removed after a 2017 vote.
Supporters of Confederate holidays and monuments have argued that removing them would erase Southern history.
“I don’t like ignoring our history. It is what it is. Some things about it are good, some things aren’t, but it’s our history,” Manatee County Commissioner Vanessa Baugh told the Bradenton Herald. “We shouldn’t be changing our history.”