Due Respect.

It's time to end the lip service and start honoring King's birthday

SEVENTEEN years after President Reagan signed the law that made Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a national holiday, it's still business as usual for most businesses in California. A survey conducted last year by Employers Group, a Los Angeles based nonprofit human resources association, revealed that more than 80 percent of California businesses did not give their workers a day off with pay. Even more troubling, most businesses do not sponsor or encourage their employees to participate in events that commemorate King's life and the civil rights movement.

By contrast, 90 percent of firms give their employees paid holidays on Memorial Day. And 50 percent of companies give their employees the day off on Presidents Day, the least celebrated day next to King's birthday. The rare exceptions to the King blackout are the New York-based Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., the New York and American Stock Exchanges (since 1998) and a handful of other financial service companies. Some companies such as Hughes Electronics Corp. in El Segundo keep their doors open that day but sponsor and encourage their employees to participate in planned events on King's life or conduct seminars on the civil rights movement.

Business executives give a litany of reasons why they don't publicly acknowledge the day. They claim they need to stay open to be competitive. They say that that people need to shop. Or they insist that no one has ever complained to them about not celebrating the day.

These are valid reasons for keeping their doors open. However, they are not valid reasons for not at least using the occasion to pay tribute to the monumental accomplishments of the civil rights movement.

Businesses big and small have benefited as much if not more than any other segment of American society from the equal rights fight. That battle smashed the barriers of legal segregation in employment and education, made diversity a watchword at major firms and paved the way for many talented and educated African Americans, Latinos and women to enter corporate doors that had previously been tightly closed to them. Their creative energies and ideas have greatly contributed to the growth and profitability of many companies.

The civil rights movement also increased the income and earnings of blacks, other minorities and women and greatly expanded their purchasing power. Consumer buying surveys show that blacks alone spend a greater proportion of their earnings on corporate goods and services than whites. Many businesses realize the enormous buying power of minority consumers and spend billions on advertising, marketing and promotion campaigns to sell their products and services to minority buyers.

Equally important, the civil rights movement forced banks and S&Ls to eliminate discriminatory lending practices. This was a powerful and ultimately self-defeating disincentive to minority business growth. The drop in lending discrimination has spurred the spectacular surge in minority businesses in California. They are a vital part of the state's economy and provide employment, training and greater access to local services in inner-city communities.

If the civil rights movement has been such a boon to business, then why do so many of them fumble the ball on the King holiday? There are two reasons: first is the misguided belief by many Americans that King was a black leader and that the civil rights movement was by and for blacks. This ignores the gargantuan influence that the civil rights battles had on the women's, gay and Latino movements, as well as independence movements in Asia and Africa. They ignore the sweeping change it made in law, politics, religion and education that made America a more open and democratic society for all.

The second reason for the blinders of many businesses on King is residual corporate discrimination. In the past two years, black employees have filed colossal discrimination lawsuits against Coca-Cola, American Airlines, Seven Up/RC Bottling, Hyundai Semiconductor in Oregon, Microsoft and dozens of other companies. The charges are almost always the same. They say that blacks are given the worst assignments, lower pay and fewer chances for promotions. corporate executives vehemently deny that they practice any discrimination. But the still paltry number of blacks that have cracked the top-level corporate glass ceiling is an indication of pervasive corporate bias.

There is still only a handful of black CEOs at the Fortune 1000 corporations. Nearly 10 out of 10 senior managers are white males. Black managers make up less than 10 percent of the total managerial positions for all races and are paid on average less than their white counterparts.

If many California firms do not aggressively attack racial discrimination in their operations, then it's no surprise that they would also ignore the civil rights movement and Dr. King as its most prominent symbol. The tragedy is that King and the movement he inspired did so much to aid business.

EARL OFARI HUTCHINSON

Earl Ofari Hutchinson is a radio commentator and the author of "The Crisis in Black and White."