It's pretty tough for a kid to comprehend backward decisions made by adults.

Back in grade school in my home state of Virginia, we spent the first half of January learning about the accomplishments of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. His dream of racial harmony was meant inspire both the little black boys and black girls as well as the little white boys and white girls in my class.

He was the personification of national unity.

Yet on the third Monday of January, we "celebrated" Lee-Jackson-King Day, with Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson somehow receiving top billing over the civil-rights icon.

I couldn't wrap my head around it. How could we celebrate a man who gave his life for black liberty on the very same day we honor generals who shed blood in defiance of that?

It's counterproductive at best and downright petty at worst. A fifth-grader could see that.

I know. I was that fifth-grader.

Thirty years later it still makes no sense.

Although my home state rightfully decided to separate the Lee-Jackson and King celebrations in 2000, here in Alabama, King still shares billing with Lee.

It's long past time for Alabama to follow Virginia's lead and split the observances.

Yes, I know Lee's and King's birthdays are in close proximity -- Lee was born Jan. 19, 1807; King was born Jan. 15, 1929. And it's a fact that Lee's birthday has been celebrated since1889, well before King's holiday was signed into law in 1983. But it's also true that instead of having this new holiday "forced" upon them by the federal government, Southern states dug in their heels, proclaiming their rights to make their own holidays. The result was King's commemoration being half-heartedly attached to Lee's like a dusty Post-It note.

Essentially, it's the age-old game of Southern states needlessly thumbing their nose at the feds - the same bull-headedness that continues to make Alabama look spiteful and archaic in the eyes of the nation and downright insensitive to its own residents.

And you thought Roy Moore had cornered the market on obstinacy.

Confederate supporters have long claimed that the Civil War wasn't about race, it was about rights - state's rights in particular. They're absolutely correct. However, those "rights" included continuing the institution of slavery, a system that categorized me as subhuman, unworthy of education, property or basic respect.

The rights I'd rather celebrate are the ones championed by Dr. King, whose vision of equality bridged the gaps spawned by Jim Crow. King's legacy strengthened the America dream - life, love and liberty now are attainable no matter your levels of melanin. That's worth celebrating.

Besides, there's already a Confederate holiday in April. Go knock yourself out.

Ask any grade schooler what MLK means to them. I bet they'll speak on King's love for mankind, possibly quote his thunderous "I Have A Dream" speech, or simply proclaim that he's a great man worth admiring.

Then try to explain why we should honor that legacy with one that completely contradicts it.

You can't because it doesn't make sense. Even a child can recognize that.