The third Monday in January is recognized nationally as the birthday of Martin Luther King, but in Arkansas, Alabama and Mississippi, there is another man’s birthday being celebrated. General Lee, the leader of the Confederate Army during the Civil War shares his honorary birthday with Martin Luther King, spokesman for the Civil Rights Movement.
It may seem odd that the man who spoke out against racism would have to share his birthday with the man who led the south in a war advocating slavery; however, their actual birthdays really do fall quite close to one another (King’s birthday is Jan. 15 and Lee’s is on Jan. 19). What is more, Lee’s birthday was declared a memorial day long before King’s.
In 1947, Arkansas legislators named Lee’s birthday a legal holiday in honor of the general. It wasn’t until 1983 that King’s birthday was to receive recognition in the same way. In 1985, the two memorial days were combined and changed to the third Monday in January. This allowed workers to have the day off regardless of which man they celebrated rather than having to choose between the two, as was often the case previously.
The issue of the combined recognition has been rankling some people for many years. Dale Charles, president of the Arkansas chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1997 felt that it is inappropriate to honor King and Lee on the same day. “Dr. King worked hard to unify the country,†he said. “I wouldn’t say General Lee would be in the same notion of Martin Luther King. He was a great general and all, but he didn’t come close to what Martin Luther King was about.â€
Deus Ex Machina blogs at Breakable News
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Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackLet us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
King was no day-dreamer. He put feet to his dreams. His put his back into them. He put his life on the line for them.
What has that to do with us? Everything! We have to choose whether we will be Dreamers who Do, or Day-Dreamers who Don’t. We can effect change in the way America does business. We can throw off the shackles of shadow markets. We can free ourselves from the stranglehold of the mighty hedge funds. Together we can…if together we stand!
Since I am quoting a preacher today, let me leave you with a quote from the Bible:
“A dream cometh through the multitude of business…” Ecclesiastes 5:3
What’s that mean? If you want it, you have to go for it. Change doesn’t come easy or by accident.
That’s the Word on the Street.
Veracity Jones
http://www.basherbusters.com
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