Arizona’s MLK Holiday & Immigration Controversies

Boycotts, marches through Phoenix, and negative national publicity. Reaction to Arizona’s new immigration law is very similar to the backlash Arizona experienced years ago over a holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Junior. We compare the controversies with Pastor Warren Stewart, a leader of Arizona’s effort to get a King holiday; Chris Herstam, a Republican state legislator who served during the King Day controversy, and Bill Shover who chaired Arizona’s Super Bowl host committees at a time when the NFL was threatening to take the Super Bowl away from Arizona unless it passed a MLK holiday.