Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy can be a thorny issue for some conservatives, particularly in the South. On the one hand, by challenging segregation, Dr. King undeniably helped make America a fairer, more meritocratic place. On the other hand, thanks to King's achievements, politicians can no longer publicly mount a full-throated defense of states' rights without generating a fair amount of political awkwardness.
Mississippi has attempted to thread the needle on this one, by proclaiming the third Monday of January a day of commemoration of both King and Confederate Army Gen. Robert E. Lee, thus celebrating the legacies of two men whose aims were completely and diametrically opposed.
