Letter to the Editor: Two federal holidays unacknowledged by Sierra County

I do not understand why in California our Sierra County refuses to acknowledge two important Federal Holidays. Martin Luther King was the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. Monday, June 19th was Juneteenth an annual commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States after the Civil War, it has been celebrated by Americans since the late 1800s and now observed by the nation but not Sierra County. Years ago as a Sierra County employee I questioned why we did not observe MLK Day and was told county employees were unwilling to swap out existing holidays for MLK and supposedly the same is true for Juneteenth. I don’t know who is disrespected by this more, Americans or employees of Sierra County who apparently are not worth an additional holiday according to the powers that be… whoever they are.

Liz Fisher
Downieville