Sign the petition: After 120 years, it’s time to end Lee-Jackson Day
If you have followed Bearing Drift over the years, you will note that I have expressed my dismay and displeasure at the practice of Virginia honoring Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson. This year, instead of voicing displeasure, I am asking you to sign a petition to end the observance.
The tradition to honor the two generals is more than a century old and began in 1889. Virginians began remembering Robert E. Lee nearly nineteen years following his death (and nineteen years following the end of federal military control). The holiday started while Fitzhugh Lee, Robert’s nephew and fellow confederate officer, was serving as governor.
In 1904, Jackson’s name was added by the General Assembly to the observance. He was so honored during a time when poll taxes and literacy tests (aka “Jim Crow” laws) were being enacted.
To think that the day is based on innocent reverence for two heroes is simply not acknowledging the facts of history. At best, it’s a naïve approach to history; at worst, it’s something more sinister.
Additionally, regardless of how you feel about the confederacy, slavery, or the two men in particular, an exclusive day for them makes very little sense:
- There are no days – national or at the state level – honoring any general (or admiral) who has worn the cloth of their country.
- There are no days in Virginia honoring any of the other numerous heroes who have called the commonwealth home.
However, this is academic. The crux of the argument always goes back to what Lee and Jackson chose to fight for: their home state of Virginia, which was at war because it wanted to defend its right to self-determination on the issue of slavery.
If Virginia is ever going to move beyond the days of racial prejudice and towards Jefferson’s more perfect union, where all men are truly created equal, then we must take action to alter this holiday.
Therefore, in an appeal to Governor Timothy M. Kaine and the General Assembly, please join in signing the following petition to end the observance of Lee-Jackson Day, and create a new holiday: Virginia Heritage Day. On this day, all of Virginia’s rich and storied history can be celebrated, honored, and added to for as long as the commonwealth exists. Sic Semper Tyrannis!
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oh, I’m wounded. I will say one thing, though. You do give me a great understanding of what people were like in the days of owning other people. White men who enslaved blacks and treated women as non-voting inferiors who did what they were told, or else they got beaten.
Thank you for the window to your ideal world.
The idiot that is calling for ending Lee-Jackson Day has now shown that the republican’ts are now as bad as the dumbocraps when it comes to White Heritage. Both parties pander to negroes and wetbacks to get votes. Not only do I totally disagree with this petition, I plan to celebrate Lee-Jackson Day tomorrow in a big way. I also plan to start a petition to abolish Martin Lucifer Coon Day as Coon was a womanizing, plagarizing communist negro pedophile not worthy of taking out my trash much less having a federal holiday in his honor.
Hey, moron, do you want to abolish George Washington Day and Columbus Day as well? They were White, so I guess you have no use for them either. Well, I have no use for you. Why don’t you move to da hood with da homies since you hate White people so much?
White Southern Solidarity!!!
I didn’t know Imus commented on this blog!
Brian,
Keep trying there. I have never said anything to the like of wanting to own people, and no matter how many times you say so, you are wrong.
You are in fact doing more harm then good for your “cause”. You are exactly the very reason why people are sick and tired of political correctness. You think honoring Lee and Jackson is the same as wanting to own people, and that simply is not the case. You are simply saying what you want, and to suggest anyone here wants to own people is not only wrong, but stupid. You simply started a debate you were not fully ready for. Again, just man up and take your licking and move on.
Happy Lee-Jackson Day.
CERTIFICATE of RECOGNITION
By virtue of the authority vested by the Constitution in the Governor of the
Commonwealth of Virginia, there is hereby officially recognized:
LEE-JACKSON DAY
WHEREAS, Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson are native
Virginians, having served our great nation and Commonwealth as
educators, leaders, and
military strategists; and
WHEREAS, Lee served in the United States Army for more than three
decades until he left
his position to serve as Commander in Chief of Virginia’s military
forces and as
Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia; and
WHEREAS, Jackson taught philosophy and military tactics as a professor
at the Virginia
Military Institute in Lexington for nearly a decade before serving
briefly in the United
States Army and later joining the Confederate Army to fight for his
native Virginia; and
WHEREAS, Lee dedicated his life after the Civil War to reforming higher
education in the
South by serving as President of Washington College, now Washington &
Lee University,
in Lexington, Virginia, where he helped to greatly increase the school’s
funding and expand
the curriculum to create an atmosphere most conducive to learning for
young men of both
Southern and Northern heritage; and
WHEREAS, Jackson’s leadership and bravery enabled him to rally his
troops to several
improbable victories against opposition forces much larger than his own,
and Jackson’s
inspired “Stonewall Brigade” fought alongside General Lee’s troops
toward another victory
even after their leader was fatally wounded on the second day of the
Battle of
Chancellorsville; and
WHEREAS, it is fitting to recognize Generals Lee and Jackson as two of
our nation’s most
notable military strategists, as beloved leaders among their troops, as
pioneers in the field of
higher education and as faithful and dedicated Virginians; and
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Timothy M. Kaine, do hereby recognize January 16,
2009 as
LEE-JACKSON DAY in the COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA and call this observance to
the attention of all our citizens.
/s/ Timothy M. Kaine
_____________________________
Governor
/s/ Katherine K. Hanley
_____________________________
Secretary of the Commonwealth
This day should always be observed by any true Southron, black or white, that knows his history. News flash! If you don’t like Dixie and her varying cultures and heroes, LEAVE! May God bless Generals Lee & Jacskon and all of Dixie’s dead veterans, past, present & future. Dixie Forever! Deo Vindice
“You simply started a debate you were not fully ready for. Again, just man up and take your licking and move on”
Man-ass wants to lick me?
Brian,
You are still around??? You are irrelevant. Even timmy kaine has more smarts then you.
Anyone who agrees with ending the celebration of Lee-Jackson day is obviously not a true Virginia Native. These 2 men symbolize evrything about the Old Dominion. They represent all of the struggles, tragedies, and history of Virginia and our great country. I am really sick of hearing from all of you liberal whinny political correct people that come to Virginia bringing your hate and contempt for all of our traditions and heritage. If you don’t like our heritage and traditions go back north and take the rest of the carpet baggers and foreigners with you. I am a 10th generation Virginian and I am proud to be that and am prepared to fight for what is mine. So either embrace our heritage and traditions or get the hell out.
If you people took the time to actually learn the truth about the history this ridiculous agenda aimed at dishonoring the names of our heros would go away. In the real world truth with integrity is the exact opposite of politcally correct.
HCP III – a real Virginian
J.R. Hoeft says: I wonder how Lee and Jackson would feel about that? Or, perhaps, I should just “shut up”?
Perhaps you should just STFU JR–and take your little petition and pee on it.
I’ll sum it up for with the words of a famous confederate general into terms regarding your petition…
“you could boil all of hell down to a pint and I would drink it before I would agree to sign your petition”
apparently you dont know your history. george washington himself fought as did many of our founding fathers. i do recall all of us getting washingtons day off. martin l. king didnt even serve our country and he has a day and a month. why dont you and all your politically correct idiots just take everything away that makes us american. wipe out out history. teach the new young people of america that its okay take erase what happened. i think you ought to call virginia heritage days, virginia haterage days. get real. stop promoting this crap and live with a thought that all proud men died so you can sit on your duff and have a right to challenge and speak freely….well so do i…..i bet you want to take God out of our schools and government too. dont you???? why not move out of the country and start your own….with no history…youd probably bitch about that too…oh and by the way, when you get rid of God in govt. schools etc. dont be two faced, make sure you work on Easter and Christmas.
I’m sure you can find plenty of native americans who feel the same way about you.
I been wondering what happened to Virginia? As a native of Louisiana and a Floridian for 25 years now I have been quite amazed at what has been going on there. You true Southernors better beat em back, they are dangerous culture genocide warriors, who are relentlessly attacking the all of us in the South. (“The South Under Siege 1830-2000″ by Connor). Obama’s election has emboldened those intent on waging this Jihad.
Americans have refused to confront the true history of Lincoln’s War, the take over of their neighbors in the South for political power and money. The party behind this is the Republicans then and now! Watch your back.
I am an Independent, I got out of the hate filled mean lying Democrat party some 15 years ago. I hope the Republicans crash and Sarah Palin heads up a new party with Ron Paul’s support. Then we just might see more of the government we were promised in 1787.
Is Brian so dumb that he doesn’t know the Indians fought and died for the CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA! He hasn’t heard of General STAN WATIE!
Any true southerner/Virginian would want to recognize ALL of the great heritage Virginia has to offer and not whitewash our history by allowing two good men to be used as a shield for racial discord.
I am a Native American, though, I’m not sure if I have any American Indian blood.
Brian is really showing poorly here. Of course the majority of American Indians fought for the South. The last Confederate General to surrender was an Indian. Good grief.
I guess they thought at least they got treated better than slaves.
Good grief, Brian really is showing just how little he knows. Indians owned blacks, blacks owned Indians, and blacks owned blacks. Yet brian would have us all believe that only blacks were slaves and were only owned by whites.
You either had poor history teachers, or slept during history class. Either way, you really should just go away before making an even bigger fool of yourself.
Man-ass is obviously knows more about slavery than I do.
Makes sense, though. I know a lot about hockey because I like it.
I saw in the newspaper a couple of years ago, that only 43 percent of those living in Virginia were native born. I don’t know how to get that under control, but THAT is a large part of our problem. Please tell this fact to our fellow natives, and maybe they will be fired up by that. Maybe someone better than me can track that statistic down for proof. I’m for keeping LJ Day, by the way.
[...] a comment » Bearing Drift has post (see here) suggesting the end of Lee-Jackson Day. Well, that is what the title says. Actually, what is [...]
Brian,
No, I know history because I do not want to look like a fool discussing it like you do.
Man-ass, don’t sell yourself short. You look like a fool without discussing anything at all.
Here is another bad Virginian who likes to celebrate Lee-Jackson Day.
Richmond- Attorney General Bob McDonnell issued the following statement today in recognition of the Lee-Jackson state holiday in Virginia .
“Today, the Commonwealth of Virginia pauses to remember two great Virginians, Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson.
Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson were men of honor, duty, faith and humility. Today, they are remembered foremost for their leadership on the battlefield. They served our nation, and when duty called, our Commonwealth, with courage and valor.
However, the legacies of Lee and Jackson extend beyond the battlefield. They are found in Lexington , where Lee taught his students after the War to be Americans again, and to pursue lives of honor and obligation, and where Jackson taught future heroes at Virginia Military Institute. Both men set personal examples that continue to be remembered to this day.
As Virginians we share a long, and sometimes difficult, history. In that history, Virginia has produced many great men and women. The lives of Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson remain worthy of study and commemoration.”
Wow, here is another Virginian who must be sent to a reeducation camp.
I wonder if Brian would tell the AG, Lt. Gov, and Gov. they support slavery by honoring Lee-Jackson Day.
RICHMOND – Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling today issued the following statement in recognition of Lee-Jackson Day in Virginia .
“More so than any other state, Virginia ’s history is America ’s history. Today, we pause to recognize the lives of two Virginians who helped write the story of both our Commonwealth and our nation. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson lived during a turbulent time in Virginia . They were defining figures of a generation for both their roles in history and their exceptional personal character. They were leaders of men. They were renowned generals and supreme tacticians. They were the epitome of honor, duty and service. They were men of steadfast principle and tireless faith. I hope all Virginians will join me today in honoring the lives and memory of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.”
Sorry, but you attempts at name calling is as weak as your knowledge of history.
you attempts?
Tough typing with one hand? You seem excited.
Generals Robert E Lee and Thomas J ‘Stonewall’ Jackson were two of the finest military officers and gentlemen that ever came out of West Point Military Academy. While many others are long forgotten, these men are not only remembered, but their military prowess and methodologies are still studied today. Virginians should be taking great pride that these two devoutly Christian Generals are remembered!
Lee’s background would lead us back to a time before the founding of the USA. We would also get to learn how the USA stole the family property in Arlington, VA from Lee’s wife, and turned it into a graveyard, which is known today as Arlington National Cemetery.
Jackson’s background would take us through the unconstitutional establishment of the State of West Virginia, and another of Lincoln’s many unconstitutional actions while president.
Newspaper writers who have no knowledge of real Virginia history (not the politically-correct version taught in today’s public schools) should not be allowed to venture ignorant opinions to the public, as we have read from Brian Kirwin.
Ah, E.D. wants to outlaw the First Amendment, and probably the 13th as well.
Brian,
You are completely clueless on history, yet you want to point out a typo? OK, be my guest but it still does not cover for your complete lack of history. I guess you are just pissed over the iggles blowing another game yesterday.
The Eagles losing a game is like citizen of manassas applauding the days of slavery. It’s so common, I rarely notice either.
Brian,
So, now you are speaking for me? Again, exactly where have I said I applaud the days of slavery? Do you think the Gov. Lt Gov, and AG applaud the days of slavery? You fancy yourself some hotshot GOP dude(even though, you are just another keyboard warrior) I’d love to see you tell our next Gov that he applauds slavery.
Do you celebrate George Washington and Thomas Jefferson?
Of course I’m not speaking for you. I prefer sentences. I like words that rise above a grunt.
Although I am flattered about how much time you focus on me. I could send you an autographed picture of me for you to hold with one hand.
I can see recalling the Civil War and respecting its history. I don’t think we should deny history, and removing this holiday might contribute to denial.
The history and the Battlefields, IMHO, should be preserved and treated with reverence. The Battlefields are, after all, graveyards that provide homes for wildlife and the memories of the slain from north and south. We can’t afford to forget.
The reason Lee and Jackson are honored together, I believe, is that we should celebrate our country’s ability to reconcile its differences and unite even after a Civil War. We should celebrate the end of violence and killing our countrymen. That said, maybe we should add “Grant” to the name of the holiday to round it out.
I do NOT like the penchant some have for continuing the Civil War. The war itself is OVER. We are one again. We should never use a holiday to celebrate division.
What we should have learned is that divided, we fall. But apparently, we have not learned that and continue breaking this country apart, each group blaming the other for the disintegration of our unity whether it be over slavery or partisan politics.
May we never forget what happens when we treat one another as less than equals and as human beings.
http://www.luxuriouschoices.net/poemsfromthebattlefield.html
Do you celebrate George Washington and Thomas Jefferson?
I will, on Virginia Heritage Day.
What is good about the holiday is this: it has generated conversation about history and slavery. Perhaps it has served more of a purpose than initially intended then, yes?
Brian,
A bit of selectivity going on I see. You do not equate them with slavery, even though both owned slaves, and in the case of Thomas Jefferson had the power to influence the Constitution on the matter. It is on record the British, if they had won the war, were going to give freedom to American slaves that fought for them. A fact that implies the war did have something to do with slavery. I’m not aware of George Washington making any statements about freeing slaves who fought under him. Does that mean Washington was fighting to keep slavery? Or, the Colonies?
Yet, for some reason you can’t make the same exception for Lee and Jackson.
Lee and Jackson were fighting for Virginia. Lee simply could not turn his back on the land of his family, and clearly was torn on the issue Virginia leaving the Union. In fact, I would submit had Virginia not left the Union, Lee would have taken the offer from Lincoln to be Commander of the Union Army. Jackson also had made similar statements about not being to fight against Virginia.
Of course, I’m not saying we should not celebrate Washington or Jefferson. They lived in an era far different from the one that we live in, and it is way too simple and easy to make judgments on people who lived in the past using our modern minds.
Liking Washington, Jefferson, Lee, or Jackson is also not in anyway a support of slavery or a desire to return to those days.
I also like to think we can celebrate all of Virginia history and in fact we should. However, changing a holiday named after Robert E Lee and Thomas J. Jackson is not the way to go about it.
Citizen, why do I think you were going to give that answer to your own inane question no matter what my response was.
Because what you said had NOTHING to do with what I said. You go on and on and on about how I treat Washington and Jefferson different from Jackson and Lee.
It’s a lie, but since your world depends on thinking that slavery and the Civil War just were mere coincidences passing in the night, lies and you don’t seem to be mortal enemies.
I don’t make exceptions for anyone. Virginia Heritage includes everyone, faults and all. Jackson-Lee Day celebrates only two men who fought a war that would never have been fought if everyone agreed about slavery.
Two men fought on the side that was fighting to preserve the right to own other people. While I don’t want to erase history, I don’t want to throw a party about the worst parts of it and ignore the rest.
Brian,
Once again you are wrong. Of course you are a hypocrite. You simply pick and choose whom you like and whom you do not like not based on facts, but based on your biases as a yankee. Anyone can play that silly game, yet, you like to think that somehow you are a better person or somehow can come to a different outcome. Well, you are wrong.
The fact Grant’s family had slaves before, during and after the war, seems to push aside how if everyone had agreed about slavery, there would not have been a war. It seems Grant’s reasons for fighting the war was not to end slavery. But, in your world because he was on the Union side he was fighting to end slavery, nothing less, nothing more.
The Union didn’t secede from the Union. So, their reasons for fighting the people who did aren’t really relevant, except for the white sheets of today who miss those days.
The reasons why the South seceded is quite easily read in their speeches advocating secession, and they rarely had a paragraph that didn’t protect slavery.
Yet, you are fine with celebrating men who created a Nation that had legal slavery and fought a war to make it stay legal. Yup, you are very selective.
This is not about who left the Union. You said if everyone agreed on slavery, well, it is clear that was not the case North or South.
How am I selective? You’re the one who wants to ignore every great Virginian except for your two slave warriors.
Wow, two weeks and a whopping 78 signatures, including several “Anonymouses” and one “Star Womanspirit.” I bet the governor and the general assembly will be stunned at the outpouring of sentiment here.
By the way, what’s this about “Jefferson’s more perfect union?” Are you perhaps confusing the Declaration of Independence and the Preamble to the US Constitution? While Jefferson wasn’t always 100% consistent on the issue, it is clear he leaned heavily towards the view that a state has a right to secede from the union and was pretty much an anti-Federalist in his views. His worst fears about this “more perfect union” were confirmed with the passage of the Alien and Sedition acts. Today he is considered to be one of the Fathers of a Southern political philosophy that includes as a bedrock item the right of secession. Lee and Jackson were ideological heirs, even though they weren’t supportive of the Southern secession at first.
Give me Jefferson, Lee and Jackson any day. You can keep Lincoln, FDR, and all the other American strongmen who have destroyed constitutional government in America.
Lee-Jackson forever:
http://coloradoconfederatarian.squarespace.com/journal/2009/1/19/lee-jackson.html
Brian,
Either you are unable to read or missed my post(though you did respond to it) saying we should and need to celebrate all of Virginia history. Of course that is not the question at hand.
The hell it isn’t. The entire post is about a petition to establish a Virginia Heritage Day.
Brian,
We do celebrate Virginia history and heritage. This is just another silly pc stunt.
If it is done, let it be done completely: Rename Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Civil Rights Day. Native Virginian and really proud of it.
May the good Lord instill in me the same integrity, devotion, and love for God that these two men did. These are probably the 1st two men I will seek out when I enter heaven.
We need men like Lee and Jackson today in this country. God bless them and their day.
Funny how all you people do is talk of slavery. You do not seem to remember that it was the same General Jackson who would pay out of his own pocket and at a time when it was a crime for black children to read so they could read their bible. Its funny how you forget how it was old unhonest abe who came up with a plan to move all blacks ot of the country but the idea failed one because the blacks did not want to go but also congress thought it would be to costly. One last thing the war was manly a war about tariffs and that Lincon and his fools of a cabinet wanted the south to pay about 80% of the nations tax. HUh kindda sounds like “no taxation without representation” the same reson we fought for our freedom against England. YOu people cry about slavery but you dont seem to recall lincon was no friend of the black man, the emancipation proclamation only freed slaves in the states in who fighting against the union and not the border states like marlyland, delaware ect.