Martin Luther King Jr. Day-Arizona Civil Rights History

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2. Evan Mecham is unforgettable.

As governor, Mecham was plagued by controversy almost immediately after his inauguration and became the first U.S. governor to simultaneously face removal from office through impeachment, a scheduled recall election, and a felony indictment. He was the first Arizona governor to be impeached.

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While Governor, Mecham became known for statements and actions that were widely perceived as insensitive to minorities. Among these actions were the cancellation of the state's paid Martin Luther King Jr. Day and creating an unpaid King holiday on a Sunday, attributing high divorce rates to working women, and his defense of the word "pickaninny" in describing African American children. In reaction to these events, a boycott of Arizona was organized.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Mecham