Well I just found out that there are some extra holidays here in the state of Alabama. Try these on for size.

Confederate Memorial Day-April 24th
Jefferson Davis Birthday-June 5th

These are official state holidays....I'll let you know if there is any observance or celebration of these when they roll around.

Also, Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a dual holiday here and is formally recognized as "Martin Luther King Jr./Robert E. Lee's Birthday". I don't know how well that is accepted here but I didn't hear or read anything about Robert E. Lee on the holiday. However, it seems insulting to include Lee , a representative of African American repression (at least, to many who do not not reside in the south) on the same holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. who strove to eradicate that exact issue.

I know that the Confederacy does not represent slavery as much here in the South as it does in other parts of the country but it is still foreign to me. I did read an interesting book called "Confederates in the Attic" which familiarized me somewhat with what the Civil War meant to people here. Still, there is a lot that I don't fully understand about the South and that has never been more obvious than right now.