http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2011/01/17/state-facebook-page-touts-robert-e-lee-day Comments On: State Facebook page touts "Robert E. Lee Day" by Gerard Matthews en-us Copyright 2013 Arkansas Times. All rights reserved. This RSS file is offered to individuals, Arkansas Times readers, and non-commercial organizations only. Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact Arkansas Times. robert@arktimes.com (Arkansas Times Webmaster) Sat, 25 May 2013 00:00:01 -0500 Sat, 25 May 2013 12:15:00 -0500 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Posted by LinCo_Progressive]]> Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:44:51 -0600 Arkansas Times I think it shows our diversity in honouring different men, separated from birth by 122 years, from different times.
This is the free nation that practiced genocide on the Native Americans, yet many idolized General Armstrong Custer as an American hero whilst others feel he was ultimately served his just deserts.
However, we are all Americans that look to the future remembering the past.


Posted by Nixster Demus]]> Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:31:06 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Michael Hughes]]> Sun, 15 Jan 2012 23:48:28 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Will18]]> Tue, 18 Jan 2011 21:16:26 -0600 Arkansas Times http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/Arkans… and http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/StateP…
Posted by Denajill]]> Tue, 18 Jan 2011 16:27:38 -0600 Arkansas Times
"Lee was considered a hard taskmaster. He also started hiring slaves to other families, sending them away, and breaking up families that had been together on the estate for generations. The slaves resented him, were terrified they would never be freed, and they lost all respect for him. There were many runaways, and at one point several slaves jumped him, claiming they were as free as he. Lee ordered these men to be severely whipped. He also petitioned the court to extend their servitude, but the court ruled against him and Lee did grant them their freedom on Jan. 1, 1863—ironically, the same day that Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation went into effect."

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles…

I still don't have a problem with honoring him with a holiday. Washington and Jefferson owned slaves, too.



Posted by Tap]]> Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:56:48 -0600 Arkansas Times
You seriously need to crack open a book, or better yet, go to the Google book library online and learn something about the truth about both men, Lee and King. And while you're at it, get to know Lincoln.

Robert E. Lee never owned a slave and did not believe in the institution of it. His wife inherited slaves from her family, but Gen. Lee freed them all well before the war. He was offered the position of commander of the union army, but could not take up arms in a war that Lincoln had baited the South into firing the first shot and then ordering up 75,000 men to fight against their own people. He would fight with his own, his Virginia. He was a God fearing Christian man, who had more morality in his little finger than Lincoln had in his whole body. Lincoln was not a Christian. Lincoln wanted the South to stay in the union to PAY for the government. He could care less about the slaves. He said so many times. Read his quotes, read his speech from his first inauguration, for that matter read the emancipation proclamation...that worthless piece of paper freed NO ONE!

The South had every right to secede from a government that they determined did not suit them. Just as the patriots freed themselves from British rule during the founding of our nation. There is absolutely no difference. It was the Southern fighting men that won the Revolutionary War for the country, and it was those men that taught their Sons and Grandsons the right of being self governed. In the 1800's, the soldiers that attended West Point Academy were taught that secession was a right and was legal in this country. Both the union and the Confederate officers that had attended West Point knew it was the truth.

There was no such thing as a Civil War. A civil was is fought by parties of the same nation. The South created their own nation, their own Constitution, their own Government and elected all of their own officials. They were a separate nation, and remain so to this day, it is an occupied nation, The CSA government and her people did not vote to rescind it's Constitution and the President did not take the oath of allegiance to the USA. The Southern fighting men were not traitors to the USA, they belonged to another nation. And that is exactly why Jefferson Davis was held for 2 years after the war without a trial. The union knew they could not prove him guilty of treason. Also because they knew that after forcing the Southern states to go through the process of "re entering" the United States it would also prove that they were in fact separated from the USA.

Slave owners made up less than 6% of our population in 1860. The very first slave owner in this nation was a black man by the name of Anthony Johnson. Look it up.

There were many black slaveholders in the north and the South. Some believe that all slave owners mistreated their slaves to the point of starvation and severe beatings...I find that hard to believe that this was a normal practice. The slave was looked at as a valuable asset, something that needed to be taken care of in order to preserve it's value and worth. FYI, Union General U.S. Grant was a slave owner until after the war.

Michael King, Jr. was a communist. He was promoted and supported by communist party. His associates were members of the communist party. His closest aides were in the communist party. He was a plagiarist. He cheated on his wife. He was being watched by the FBI right up until the day he was shot. He spent his last night and day on earth with 3 hookers, one he severely beat up on the morning of his death.

He did not believe in the Virgin birth of Jesus Christ nor the resurrection, however he claimed to have been a Baptist minister.

Where ever he went trouble followed, his pretense of non violence was comical at best. And the most interested part of King's life will only be known after the FBI file is opened in 2027. Why was it sealed? Why wasn't the American public allowed to be informed of it's content? What are they hidding? The congress tried to have the FBI file opened before they voted on the Bill to honor him with a national holiday, but they were denied. They Congress was denied?? Really?? Our law makers??

It is my hope that each one of the American people that have been fooled into believing this was a great man, will have the strength of character to apologize for being taken in by the ungodly way of thinking that he and his ilk have brought upon this nation.

Slavery was wrong then and now but it endures today all over the world. The War Between the States should have never happened, learn the truth about how Lincoln planned for the war. How he time and again refused to allow the federal troops to leave Fort Sumter peacefully when asked by the State of South Carolina. And Michael King, Jr. does not deserve to be honored by a freedom loving nation such as this one. Communist do not believe in freedom.
Posted by VioletWhite]]> Tue, 18 Jan 2011 15:46:13 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Durango]]> Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:53:45 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by jollyigloo]]> Tue, 18 Jan 2011 10:08:06 -0600 Arkansas Times
We should not celebrate this man.
Posted by ProCarry]]> Tue, 18 Jan 2011 07:59:12 -0600 Arkansas Times >>>>Did our daily newspaper run the annual editorial about how awesome Massa' Robert was?<<<<<

Not yet... The D-G's policy seems to be to run the annual tributes on the actual birthday, not the made-up Monday holidays set by either the State or the Yankee guv'mint. King's tribute ran in last Saturday's editorial page -- on his birthday; look for the stuff on Lee in Wednesday's paper -- Lee's birthday. Stonewall Jackson's birthday is mixed up in the same dates somewhere, while Arkansas doesn't so honor the revered Stonewall (he wasn't from, nor did he visit these parts for any length of time) the Commonwealth of Virginia honors "Lee-King-Jackson Day."

Posted by Pscyclepath]]> Tue, 18 Jan 2011 07:34:22 -0600 Arkansas Times
He opposed the Vietnam War on the grounds that the war took money and resources that could have been spent on social welfare services and the War on Poverty. In his most public 1967 statement "Beyond Vietnam" he said, "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death". He accused the United States of killing a million Vietnamese, mostly children.

King is frequently referenced as a human rights icon today. He fought for the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world using nonviolent methods, following the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. He was inspired by Gandhi's success with nonviolent activism. In 1959 he visited Gandhi's India birthplace with assistance from the Quaker group and the American Friends Service Committee, a trip that profoundly affected him, deepening his understanding of non-violent resistance and his commitment to America's struggle for civil rights.He was also influenced by Howard Thurman who counseled him to dedicate himself to the principles of nonviolence. King was inspired by Gandhi's success with nonviolent activism.

He is best known as a leader in the African American civil rights movement. In his 1963 "Letter from Birmingham Jail" he wrote, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." His 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech was a defining moment and facilitated passage of the the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In 1964 he became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other nonviolent means.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was ruthlessly assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1977 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 2004. Coretta Scott King established the King Center in 1968 to honor her husband. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986.

"The nonviolent approach does not immediately change the heart of the oppressor. It first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them new self-respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage that they did not know they had. Finally it reaches the opponent and so stirs his conscience that reconciliation becomes a reality."--Martin Luther King, Jr.


Source: http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/liberat… "Beyond Vietnam" (Liberation Curriculum)

Through nonviolent conflict resolution, May Peace Prevail on Earth.
Posted by Seabird]]> Tue, 18 Jan 2011 06:17:48 -0600 Arkansas Times
After the war, General Lee lobbied hard for Reconstruction, for reconciliation between the North and South, and for the re-integration of confederates into politics. Without his efforts, the southern states would have been even worse off than circumstance and lack of an industrial base left them for much of the nearly 150 years since the Civil War.

Arkansas has been celebrating Robert E Lee's birthday since 1907, as a state holiday it was a day off for state employees. Ronald Regan signed the proclamation recognizing Martin Luther King, Jr day in 1983. Lee's birthday is January 19; King's is January 15th. So instead of making state employees choose one or the other to take their day off, Arkansas combined the two and recognize both on the 3rd Monday in January.

In other words, even though the juxtaposition looks odd to the hypersensitive and those worried about race relations, it isn't a deliberate attempt to marr Dr. King's memory. I really wish we had come far enough to be able to celebrate two men - each great in their own right - without fearing that the celebration of one was at the detriment of the other.


===From other sources===
Don't be misled by Lee's Confederate uniform. True, he led the Southern forces through the Civil War, but he deplored slavery. A West Point-trained officer who fought with valor in the Mexican War, he made a heart-wrenching decision to remain loyal to his native state when Virginia seceded from the Union.
Read more: How to Celebrate Robert E. Lee | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_10201_celebrate-ro…


Posted by ruralmom]]> Tue, 18 Jan 2011 02:03:02 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Hackett]]> Mon, 17 Jan 2011 23:51:35 -0600 Arkansas Times
Yeeee-ha!
Posted by Doc]]> Mon, 17 Jan 2011 23:28:19 -0600 Arkansas Times
The builder of my house rode the last train out of Richmond with the Confederate cabinet on the day old Dixie died. He was instructed to sleep in the same room with Jefferson Davis on that trip because his father/Commander was afraid Jeff Davis had become mentally unstable and might commit suicide.

Jefferson Davis, Jr., was best man at the wedding of the builder of my house to a lovely woman from Kentucky. My long research shows the builder of my house was a decent, honest, student, soldier, brother, husband, father, US Representative, diplomat, Dawes commissioner, banker, insurance agent, decrepit Air Raid warden, friend and neighbor.

His family owned one slave, an ancient old nanny his father inherited and took care of until she died. This family didn't fight in the Civil War to defend their love of slavery, they didn't love it. The builder's father was a US Senator from Kentucky reelected in 1860. He proposed the slavery issue be settled by the US government buying all the slaves and then freeing them. That way the slaves would be free and the plantation owners would have the cash (rare in those days) to hire back their former slaves to work the land. A win win for everyone.

But his idea was rejected and a war broke out that eventually took the lives of almost 700 thousand Americans, maimed over a million and laid the south to waste for a generation. While on the first Congressional break of 1861 my builder's father learned Lincoln had suspended habeas corpus, confiscated his DC home, and had a posse out determined to capture him and put him in prison for the duration of the war, as was done to over 14 thousand American citizens.

My builder's father at that point joined the Confederacy rose to the rank of General and was the last Confederate Secretary of War. I have read in a letter that the builder of my house waited to own his own home until he was 60 years old because of the memory of his father's house being stolen and later given as a gift to U.S. Grant. I live in that first and last house.

I love my southern heritage, I love studying the history of the Civil War and know its origins are vast and much more complicated than can fit into our modern 2 minute sound bite. I also know the South was wrong about the institution of slavery and LOST the war.

I know that Martin Luther King, Jr., was born on January 15, 1929 and Robert E. Lee was born January 19, 1807 some 121 years, 361 days apart. I helped celebrate the first MLK Day in Fort Baptist and I celebrated it today. mag and I inadvertently celebrate January 19th each year because our oldest daughter was born on that day almost 24 years ago.

Since I didn't become a fan of Martin Luther King, Jr., until after his death, I can't honestly say I would have been anti-slavery and fought for the North 150 years ago. Hell, David O. Dodd might have been my best friend and secret contact back then. The important thing is that I grew up, cast off my racist upbringing and learned to love everybody in time to be an example to my children.

For the next 4 or so years, I hope those of us on the blog will refrain from re-fighting the Civil War. Our nation will be commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War until April, 2015. We have a world of current problems on our plate today, far too many to fight a long ago war that was definitively settled long before our birth.

I can wonder at Confederate relics, study and respect Confederate soldiers, without wishing the South had won and slavery was still with us. My love of Southern history doesn't prevent me from reaching my hand out to people of all races and enjoy listening to the great speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. I am big enough to do it all, baby and I can pat my head and rub my tummy too...while walking! Everyone can if they try.
Posted by DeathbyInches]]> Mon, 17 Jan 2011 23:27:29 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by HawkeyePierce]]> Mon, 17 Jan 2011 23:23:20 -0600 Arkansas Times
Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi also celebrate Robert E. Lee's birthday. AL & MS celebrate it on the same day as MLK's birthday is celebrated.
Posted by born_2_teach]]> Mon, 17 Jan 2011 22:16:23 -0600 Arkansas Times
Arkansas chose in 1947 to observe Robert E. Lee Day. Then in 1983 the state decided to also celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. State employees had to decide whether to celebrate King on Jan. 15, Lee on Jan 19, or the employees own birthday. They could only choose one.

In 1985, the state legislature voted to combine the King/Lee for the 3rd Monday in January and allow the employee to also celebrate their own birthday. This gives the employee two days off.

Another thing that the Arkansas legislature did was to combine Daisy Gatson Bates birthday with President's day. This was done in honor of her mentoring of the Little Rock Nine.

Those are all facts. We live in a free country and if someone wants to celebrate one over the other, then so be it. I personally have never been invited to a Robert E. Lee parade, party, or memorial. I have been invited to and attended many for Martin Luther King Jr.

Oh, and Little Rock has a street named for both men. Another fact. If everyone would stick to the facts and the truth of the situation, it would make for more intelligent conversation.
Posted by born_2_teach]]> Mon, 17 Jan 2011 22:13:43 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Durango]]> Mon, 17 Jan 2011 21:38:14 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by plainjim]]> Mon, 17 Jan 2011 20:11:15 -0600 Arkansas Times Aristotle.net. But I don't know if they manage the Facebook site. It's hard to picture them promoting General Lee over Dr. King.

Any word on who will succeed their recently-deceased Supreme Leader, Dixon Bowles? It operates as a dynastic cult, so I have a pretty good idea already.
Posted by radical centrist]]> Mon, 17 Jan 2011 18:47:56 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by I_AM_THE_NRA]]> Mon, 17 Jan 2011 18:07:46 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by Tap]]> Mon, 17 Jan 2011 18:07:09 -0600 Arkansas Times Posted by SnideRemarks]]> Mon, 17 Jan 2011 17:53:44 -0600 Arkansas Times