Arizona isn’t new to policies that are hostile to folks of color, and the state’s recently passed and seemingly unconstitutional immigration law is just the most recent example.

I happened to catch some In Living Color this afternoon for the first time in awhile, and one episode featured a skit about Arizona’s failure in the late 1980s-early 90s to pass a state bill recognizing Martin Luther King Jr. By 1989, an MLK Day was adopted in 44 of the 50 states, but Arizona was not one of them. Indeed, in 1987, former governor and the late Evan Meacham, who would have probably been right at home on some 19th century plantation in even-more-backward-than-it-is-now-Alabama, rescinded the holiday as his first act in office.

In 1988, then-Arizona Gov. Evan Mecham was impeached by the state House, tried and convicted by the state Senate and removed from office.

Honorable.

According to the linked article from The Washington Post:

Mr. Mecham, who said the holiday was implemented illegally and required a public vote, poured fuel on the controversy by opining that King “didn’t deserve” the holiday. Further, he said there was nothing wrong with calling black children “pickaninnies,” a statement that prompted an Arizona bumper sticker that said, “Pickaninny: What we did for Governor.”

Mr. Mecham, who said the holiday was implemented illegally and required a public vote, poured fuel on the controversy by opining that King “didn’t deserve” the holiday. Further, he said there was nothing wrong with calling black children “pickaninnies,” a statement that prompted an Arizona bumper sticker that said, “Pickaninny: What we did for Governor.”

Thankfully, within 18 months of taking office, Meacham was facing impeachment proceedings and six indictments. But that notwithstanding, Arizona still needed a good three years before Arizona finally passed an MLK Day bill. Readers will well recall the measure the NFL took in 1991 by moving the 1993 Super Bowl from Phoenix to Pasadena, Calif., because of a late 1980s boycott of the state.

Here’s some further background on the measure of bigotry coming out of the state, and here is a timeline of events regarding MLK Day.

And now that your blood pressure is through the roof, here’s the In Living Color video to cool you off a bit:

Watching the inauguration speech today, it seemed evident to me from Barack Obama’s tone and content that, while the speech included much of the inspirational verbiage we heard in Philadelphia’s Speech on Race and Denver’s Democratic nomination address, we were listening to a man who’s position in history — and his high calling amid numerous national and global crises — had been fully realized.

As was mentioned in a local newspaper editorial, the irony of the moment was palpable. Forty-five years to the day that Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington, Obama stood in Denver and accepted the nomination to lead the Democratic ticket. A day after the holiday honoring King for his service to the country, we inaugurated Obama as the first black president.

King Jr. famously said: “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Today, Obama stood inside both those moments. Surely, it was a happy, triumphant occasion for his family and himself. But it was also a day where the critical position he found himself in, as frigid air beat down on the crowd of a million or more — the largest ever to assemble in Washington — must have come crashing down around him.

Photo by The Associated Press

Some Republicans have claimed he’s just another politician. And he may very well prove to be nothing more. And even if he is nothing more, we will still be able to say that, for a time, he made many hope and believe a better day was coming — that a betteer day and a more perfect union was within our grasp, just as 40 years prior, King helped us believe the same. Even if Obama turns out to be a dud, at least he gave us that.

But, of course, I sincerely hope (and think he will) turn out to be much more. He’s not a wonder-worker. But these things he brings to the table, which have been missing for awhile: poise, thoughtfulness, careful deliberation (almost to a fault), compassion and erudition.

As the next months and years play out, we should get behind him and remember his Inaugural Day words:

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.