Transcription: First Lady is committed to working for King holiday
By Tom Saladino
Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA (AP) - First lady Rosalynn Carter said Tuesday the president joins her in a renewed commitment to work for a national holiday honoring the Jan. 15 birth date of the late Mart in Luther King Jr. Mrs. Carter’s remarks at a two-hour memorial service before an overflow crowd at Ebenezer Baptist Church came only hours after the marble front of King’s crypt was defaced during the night by streaks of red, black and green paint. Following the services about 5,000 people marched one mile through downtown streets to the state Capitol, chanting, “We Want a National Holiday,” and waving signs favoring a national and state holiday in memory of King, who was assassinated 12 years ago in Memphis, Tenn. “When I left Washington this morning it was a holiday for the school children there. And you and I and the president are committed to a national holiday for Martin Luther King Jr,” Mrs. Carter said.
“Hope, faith, love. That is what we celebrate today,” she said. “We must have a national holiday to commemorate this great man of hope, faith and love.”
The proposal for a national holiday for King lost twice in the House last year and failed to make much progress in the Senate. However, the date is a holiday in the District of Columbia.
There were no arrests in the defacing of the tomb. The Rev. Fred Bennett, chief of security for the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Social Change near the crypt, said he would not begin an investigation until after Tuesday’s activities.
Atlanta Police Maj. W.W. Holley said it was just vandalism and he believed it was done by a single individual and not the work of an organized group.
Mrs. Carter left for Washington before the march, which was led by King’s widow, Coretta Scott King; former Peace Corp director Sargeant Shriver; Rabbi Marc Tannenbaum, director of the American Jewish Committee; and Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson.
At the Capitol, Mrs. King urged the crowd to push for the holiday for her late husband.
