Outraged that the birthdays of Confederate leaders Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee continue to be observed as legal holidays in Florida, civil rights activists are calling on lawmakers to repeal them.

The holidays commemorating the June 3 birth of Davis, who served as Confederate president, and the January 19 birth of Lee, the Confederacy's top general, were designated by the Florida Legislature in the early 1900s during the height of the Jim Crow era of racial segregation in the South.

Though not observed holidays that would grant state workers paid time off, critics say the birthdays are as symbolic as the Confederate battle flag and efforts to memorialize Confederate veterans.

"We take that as a slap against those that were slaves at that time, because irrespective of how you want to look at it, the Confederacy rose to continue slavery in those states and they fought for that," said Dale Landry, a leader of the Florida chapter of the N.A.A.C.P., in opposing inducting Confederate soldiers into the state's Veterans Hall of Fame.

The backlash against the holidays has become so potent that Chris Korge, a South Florida Democratic state Senate candidate, has made eliminating them a plank of his campaign. Others, however, are less supportive of mounting efforts to retire Confederate symbols.

"I just think it's Southern pride, not...I'm not a prejudiced person and - I don't fly (the Confederate flag), I don't want to give anybody the wrong impression - but if I were to fly it, it would be because I'm proud to be from the South," said Jackie Booth, a Pasco County resident touring the Florida State Capitol on Thursday.

Full list of legal holidays in Florida

683.01 Legal holidays.

  1. The legal holidays, which are also public holidays, are the following:
    1. Sunday, the first day of each week.
    2. New Year's Day, January 1.
    3. Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., January 15.
    4. Birthday of Robert E. Lee, January 19.
    5. Lincoln's Birthday, February 12.
    6. Susan B. Anthony's Birthday, February 15.
    7. Washington's Birthday, the third Monday in February.
    8. Good Friday.
    9. Pascua Florida Day, April 2.
    10. Confederate Memorial Day, April 26.
    11. Memorial Day, the last Monday in May.
    12. Birthday of Jefferson Davis, June 3.
    13. Flag Day, June 14.
    14. Independence Day, July 4.
    15. Labor Day, the first Monday in September.
    16. Columbus Day and Farmers' Day, the second Monday in October.
    17. Veterans' Day, November 11.
    18. General Election Day.
    19. Thanksgiving Day, the fourth Thursday in November.
    20. Christmas Day, December 25.
    21. Shrove Tuesday, sometimes also known as “Mardi Gras,” in counties where carnival associations are organized for the purpose of celebrating the same.
  2. Whenever any legal holiday shall fall upon a Sunday, the Monday next following shall be deemed a public holiday for all and any of the purposes aforesaid.