At home, senior Shawn Mitchell has always discussed heavy topics within the Black community with his parents. When it came to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, he was taught that the holiday was one of “remembering and celebration” – a day to keep the spirit of the civil rights leader alive.
“My mom and dad remind me of where I belong and where I come from, which is good, because everyone needs to know what they are from and what has happened to their culture over the years,” Mitchell said.
But for some students, the third Monday in January hardly involves King or the Civil Rights Movement. In a Schoology survey of 106 students, 60.4% rated the amount of time they spend contemplating civil rights on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at one or two out of five. And 62.3% said they think their peers view Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a free day off of school more than a day for serious reflection.
“It doesn’t really mean much to me,” freshman Aymen Jaouni said. “I think it’s alright … We get a day off school.”
Jaouni said neither he nor any of his peers talk about King or the Civil Rights Movement on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Mitchell, in contrast, enjoys discussing the leader. He is a member of Black Student Union, which devotes time to learning about significant Black figures.
“Without his work, I wouldn’t have the cool clothing, the education [or] the tools I have now,” Mitchell said. “Even though we have more ‘freedom’ now than we had back then, we [can] still strive for more.”
Freshman Zachary Majors said he thinks most of his peers fit into one of two groups.
“I think it is a mix of people who think about it for a long time and people who don’t even know what day it is,” Majors said.
Junior Savanna Westfall-Lemp agreed that many students “see it as a way off school” or “don’t tend to look much into it.” But she thinks knowledge about Martin Luther King Jr.’s work has increased since the holiday was first celebrated in 1986.
“More people have started to care and interact with it,” Westfall-Lemp said. “It shows that [King] made an impact on the world and helps younger people recognize the importance of that figure in history.”
Over time, Majors believes Martin Luther King Jr. Day has taken a shape that honors the movement as a whole, not just one specific person within it.
“For me, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is [about] when African Americans rallied and peacefully protested [against] the discrimination against them for the color of their skin,” Majors said.
To Mitchell, the holiday is about preserving the story of civil rights in America, with King at its center.
“The value is to keep his spirit alive, or to keep the story together,” Mitchell said. “I wasn’t there, but when people explain it, it feels like I was there. Keeping this day remembered is like showing people who don’t know the original story how it went.”
King’s bravery continues to inspire Mitchell. He said the leader “showed no fear” as the spokesperson of nonviolence, which made others more confident in the movement. According to Mitchell, despite many students viewing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as merely a break from school, “he’s the reason I have it.”