You only have one shopping day left until Michigan Manufacturing Day. Michigan lawmakers in 2004 designated the Friday of the second full week in May as a time to encourage manufacturers “to open their plants and facilities to young people, teachers, and parents and encourages visits to manufacturing plants and facilities.”

That sounds like an OSHA violation just waiting to happen, but it will be a chance to celebrate even if you missed Michigan’s Arbor Day, which occurred on the last Friday in April. According to a law passed in 1885, residents are supposed to set aside that date to give “special attention” to “the importance of planting trees for ornament and shade.” The law remains on the books, though few notice. But the calendar offers many more days of celebration, because Michigan politicians have long used state holidays to do little else but virtue-signal.

A chapter of Michigan law titled “Sundays and Holidays” contains about two dozen measures creating state holidays for events, groups and individuals. Most fall into four categories: industry promotion, commemoration of war efforts and the armed forces, remembrance of past government abuses, and endorsement of certain cultural values.

Some holidays promote favored industries. Log Cabin Day, passed in 1989 at the urging of the Log Cabin Society of Michigan, seems to honor state’s logging industry. Days later, lawmakers gave gardening an entire week of reverence.

Lawmakers made July 30 Henry Ford Day in 2003, directing residents to “reflect upon the significance of Henry Ford's contributions to the history of the state of Michigan and to the history of this great nation.” Mark your calendar.

Military commemorations are similarly selective. Lawmakers created Pearl Harbor Day in 2000, 59 years after the attack. Michigan also recognizes each branch of the armed forces, a Women Veteran’s Recognition Day, and Blue Star Mothers’ Day, honoring a support group for mothers of service members. October 11 is Casimir Pulaski Day.

These may be worthy causes, but the choices are arbitrary. Why commemorate Pulaski but not Grant, Pershing, Marshall or Eisenhower? Why honor Pearl Harbor but not 9/11, D-Day, Gettysburg or the Battle of the Bulge? Why is manufacturing revered and not farming, building or engineering?

Lawmakers also use state holidays to denounce past government injustices. Michigan Indian Day dates to 1974. Fred Korematsu, a Californian who challenged President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s internment policy, has a day on January 30. Sojourner Truth and Rosa Parks each have their own day. The Holocaust and Armenian genocide each get a week of remembrance.

These choices create winners and losers. Why is there no day of remembrance for the genocides in Ukraine, Cambodia, Rwanda or Sudan? Why not honor Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois or Ida B. Wells? Once lawmakers start assigning official reverence, omission of other worthy causes becomes a glaring inconsistency.

The broadest virtue-signaling comes with holidays for vague ideals. In 1980, lawmakers created American Family Day. The statute offers no explanation for its purpose. Five years later came Grandparents’ and Grandchildren’s Day. In 2003, lawmakers added Children’s Memorial Day, calling on residents to reflect on “the precious resource that our children constitute.” It is hard to imagine anyone needing a statute to come to that realization.

Other selections are even harder to understand, and Michigan natives don’t even seem to have the inside track: John F. Kennedy got a day in 1966, while Gerald R. Ford had to wait until 2003. No other president gets a state holiday. Detroit Tiger great Willie Horton was honored in 2004, but not Joe Louis, Al Kaline, Gordie Howe or Magic Johnson. Two years ago, lawmakers created Negro Leagues Day. No other sports league gets similar treatment.

Most of these holidays were created after the 1960s, with the pace accelerating in the 21st century. The practice may seem harmless, but it is a poor use of law. Laws are meant to govern public conduct, not serve as symbolic gestures to flatter constituencies.

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