Beyond what you have said already, I have always made the following statements to myself and asked the following question of myself:
01. ) Every man and woman who has ever served in the U.S. military, both dead and survivors of wars, get one day per year, including all of the Medal of Honor winners.
02. ) All presidents, ( supposedly combined Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthday ) get one holiday.
Why does a black who was a hardcore conscientious objector, reference 01. ) above, and who never held any elective office, reference 02. ) above, get his own day?
Because King memorialized something that was worth memorializing in his (plagiarized but none the less true) “I Have A Dream” speech. If black communities would listen more to that and less to sex-and-violence rap today, they would go much further. For that reason I, a honky, say that it’s better that King have a day than not to have one.
Because in 1983 a whole lot of politicians wanted to (surprise, surprise) pander to blacks, and so they passed this law. Enough time had gone by and King's legend had grown to where it seemed a benign enough gesture. The tragic assassination was, of course, the deal closer.