I have some family-focused commitments this week and wanted to post this in anticipation of Friday (just in case I don’t get back in time.)This coming Friday is Lee-Jackson Day, which is a holiday celebrated in the U.S. state of Virginia for the birthdays of Robert E. Lee (Jan. 19) and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson (Jan. 21st). The original holiday, created in 1889, celebrated Lee's birthday. Jackson's name was added to the holiday in 1904. Today, I was doing a little research on this special occasion in preparation for this blog post, and I must say that I am very surprised at the sheer magnitude of negative material and public outrage that has been posted on the Internet in regards to this commemoration.
Actually… it shouldn't surprise me at all as everything “Confederate” seems to be in the cross-hairs of controversy nowadays. Still, the hypocrisy that surrounds much of the other side’s argument is a bit disturbing. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the original “Lee-Jackson-King Day” was perhaps not the best way to acknowledge any of these men. However, few people realize which came first and how both holidays came about.
Robert E. Lee's birthday has been celebrated as a Virginia holiday since 1889. In 1904, the legislature added the birthday of Jackson to the holiday, and Lee-Jackson Day was born. Eighty years later, Republican President Ronald Reagan declared the day in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Virginia, who since 1978 had celebrated King's birthday in conjunction with New Years Day, made the change and simply tacked him onto Lee-Jackson Day. Thus Lee-Jackson-King Day was born. In January of 2000, Virginia's Republican Governor James Gilmore asked the Legislature to move Lee-Jackson Day to the previous Friday, which would give Martin Luther King, Jr. a holiday of his own. The Legislature agreed, and the holidays were shuffled around, giving Commonwealth of Virginia employees a nice long 4-day weekend.
Therefore, now that Lee-Jackson Day and Martin Luther King Day have been made “exclusive events,” there is no reason to continue the debate. I prefer to celebrate BOTH. Isn’t that what equality is all about? Some apparently don’t think so.