Every year at precisely this point while the rest of the country is honoring a man who sacrificed his life so that others (not just blacks) could live without tyranny, we in Arkansas engage in an ongoing debate about whether or not we should continue to jointly celebrate the day with another man who embodies the exact opposite of Dr. King’s cause.
This honestly is a debate we should not have to have in 2015. So I would like to, along with everyone else who decides to share this, call on newly inaugurated Governor Hutchinson to make sure this is the last time we ever acknowledge Robert E. Lee day as an official holiday.
For the back story here, Arkansas is one of three states (along with Alabama and Mississippi, no surprise here) to jointly celebrate Robert E. Lee day along side Martin Luther King Day.
See at some point an obviously brilliant state representative, senator, or governor decided we may end up offending a bunch of racists if we only honor MLK day. So since the rules of physics say for ever action there has to be an equal and opposite reaction, we decided to honor a man who lived and died trying to ensure those who did not have white skin continue to serve those deemed better. So we decided it best to not offend the people who live life offending other people by honoring someone who (thankfully) lost his war, his cause, and ultimately his ideology.
Now, those of you who are smart in the room will note that it is not actually the Governor’s job to set the official state holidays. That falls to Secretary of State Mark not the race car driver Martin, who for the past four years has failed each and every year to acknowledge problem with this. While we wait on Martin to fight his way out of a wet paper bag, I believe we must look elsewhere.
As the Governor of the state and the de facto leader of the party in power in Arkansas, Hutchinson has more than enough pull and political savvy to end this strike on equality in Arkansas.
If balance is important then I say we honor Robert E. Lee along with former Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus in early September. Those two are more fitting to share a holiday than Lee along with Dr. King.
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This times 1,000,000. Well said, Greg.
True. The joint celebration day does cause a bit of a cringe. One must remember, however, that January 19 actually is Robert E. Lee’s birthday. I would much prefer that each man have his own day rather than the incongruous joint Monday. I feel the same about the combined so-called Presidents Day in February.
How many illegitimate children did Mr. Lee have?
Has Virginia dropped its version of the holiday: Lee-Jackson-King day? Jackson is, of course, Stonewall and not Jessie.
I’m not that familiar with how Arkansas celebrates Robert E. Lee’s birthday, however, MLK was not a kind man the way he treated his wife and family.
He was a wonderful speaker and the segregation that was happening in the south needed to be recognized. I lived in Kansas City at the time of his assassination and the riots and curfews were unbelievable.
Nicely put!
A historical account of Lee: “My name is Wesley Norris; I was born a slave on the plantation of George Parke Custis; after the death of Mr. Custis, Gen. Lee, who had been made executor of the estate, assumed control of the slaves, in number about seventy; it was the general impression among the slaves of Mr. Custis that on his death they should be forever free; in fact this statement had been made to them by Mr. C. years before; at his death we were informed by Gen. Lee that by the conditions of the will we must remain slaves for five years; I remained with Gen. Lee for about seventeen months, when my sister Mary, a cousin of ours, and I determined to run away, which we did in the year 1859; we had already reached Westminster, in Maryland, on our way to the North, when we were apprehended and thrown into prison, and Gen. Lee notified of our arrest; we remained in prison fifteen days, when we were sent back to Arlington; we were immediately taken before Gen. Lee, who demanded the reason why we ran away; we frankly told him that we considered ourselves free; he then told us he would teach us a lesson we never would forget; he then ordered us to the barn, where, in his presence, we were tied firmly to posts by a Mr. Gwin, our overseer, who was ordered by Gen. Lee to strip us to the waist and give us fifty lashes each, excepting my sister, who received but twenty; we were accordingly stripped to the skin by the overseer, who, however, had sufficient humanity to decline whipping us; accordingly Dick Williams, a county constable, was called in, who gave us the number of lashes ordered; Gen. Lee, in the meantime, stood by, and frequently enjoined Williams to “lay it on well,” an injunction which he did not fail to heed; not satisfied with simply lacerating our naked flesh, Gen. Lee then ordered the overseer to thoroughly wash our backs with brine, which was done. After this my cousin and myself were sent to Hanover Court-House jail, my sister being sent to Richmond to an agent to be hired; we remained in jail about a week, when we were sent to Nelson county, where we were hired out by Gen. Lee’s agent to work on the Orange and Alexander railroad; we remained thus employed for about seven months, and were then sent to Alabama, and put to work on what is known as the Northeastern railroad; in January, 1863, we were sent to Richmond, from which place I finally made my escape through the rebel lines to freedom; I have nothing further to say; what I have stated is true in every particular, and I can at any time bring at least a dozen witnesses, both white and black, to substantiate my statements: I am at present employed by the Government; and am at work in the National Cemetary on Arlington Heights, where I can be found by those who desire further particulars; my sister referred to is at present employed by the French Minister at Washington, and will confirm my statement. ”
Reprinted in John W. Blassingame (ed.): Slave Testimony: Two Centuries of Letters, Speeches, and Interviews, and Autobiographies. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press (ISBN 0-8071-0273-3). 467-468.
So…
The war between the states did encompass more than slavery (which is one of mankind’s greatest crimes,) and the southern states weren’t the only states to have slaves. Just saying. I’m a little tired of the black and white (terrible pun intended) view. We are all shades of brown. Political issues are shades of grey.
“Any society which suppresses the heritage of its conquered minorities, prevents their history or denies them their symbols, has sown the seeds of their own destruction.”
Sir William Wallace, 1281
You may call me racist but I must state that the likes of Marxist Lucifer King should never be honored in any way, especially in sharing the day held in honor of Gen. Robert E. Lee!
I say that as the godfather of a beautiful, intelligent, talented woman who happens to be black. Her father knew my beliefs and still chose me over his friends and even his family because: “You will raise her as your own daughter and, I know, you will never lie to her!”. I am also the proud grandfather of a bright-eyed, smiling young man who was adopted by my elder daughter and her husband. I bought him his first .22 rifle, fishing gear and books. He is from Ethiopia. Can you guess what color he is? He is my grandson! Should someone hurt him in any way I will take great pleasure in severely hurting that person! And he will learn the truth!
Your comments prove that you are one pathetic ASS! You show yourself to be totally ignorant of the truth!! Please do the world a favor and get some education!!!!! http://www.southernheritage411.com would be a good start for you. You can explain to my brother H.K. why you hold such contempt for the truth.
Although Wesley Norris claimed that he and others were whipped at the behest of Lee, there is no proof of this as far as I know. Yes, Norris and others escaped; yes, they were captured; yes, they were returned to Lee; apparently, Lee called in an official to take them to jail; yes, Lee had them all “shipped South” (All of this is adequately covered in Mrs. Pryor’s book–Reading the Man). However other than Norris’ testimony, I have found no proof of any whipping at the behest of Lee. Since the only “proof” that Lee had Norris and others whipped comes from the mouth of Norris himself, IMO even that must now be called into question. At the same time that the Norris story came out, his family was trying to “get gain” and I believe that the Norris story was used to arouse public sentiment to help his family to get that “gain” by libeling Lee. If you have proof to the contrary, please present it and we will all be the wiser. Thanks, Tom Forehand, Jr.