Celebrate 1st King Holiday as Peace Day, Widow Says

Coretta Scott King, widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Monday called on all nations to observe “a day of peace” by ceasing hostilities in honor of the slain civil rights leader’s birthday, to be celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time Jan. 20.

Mrs. King also said a major objective of the holiday will be to promote better race relations in the United States and around the world.

“We have called for a cessation of all hostilities that day, including military maneuvers,” Mrs. King said. “We are calling for one day of peace in tribute to a man who was a peacemaker. It must also be used as a holiday to minimize the differences that still exist among us.”

Speaking at a press conference in San Diego, Mrs. King said that the nation is now more democratic than it was when her husband was alive and that blacks have made considerable gains in political representation. But she said the economic condition of minorities has been slower to improve.

“There is a recognition through legislation that 10% of federal contracts should be given to minorities,” she said. “That legislation is currently threatened but it is still there. Government, the private sector and labor have to work together to solve these problems.”

Mrs. King is in San Diego through today to address a regional conference of the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Holiday Commission and a meeting of the California Holiday Commission, and to introduce the area to “Living the Dream,” a program planned to coincide with the national holiday.

Mrs. King is urging all Americans to sign “Living the Dream” pledge cards, promising to “make America and the world a place where equality and justice, freedom and peace, will grow and flourish.”

Congress voted in 1983 to make King’s birthday a national holiday beginning in 1986. All city, state and federal offices will be closed on Jan. 20. The state and the City of San Diego already observe a King holiday. The day will not be a county holiday.