PRAISE KING, BUT ALSO HONOR LEE, JACKSON

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 15, 1992                   TAG: 9201150362
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
PRAISE KING, BUT ALSO HONOR LEE, JACKSON
I AM A GREAT admirer of Martin Luther King Jr. and have absolutely no problem with a day of recognition for his courage, intelligence and leadership in the civil-rights movement. His "I have a dream" speech is as moving and inspiring as any I have ever heard. I see your newspaper is publishing a calendar of events related to the observance of Dr. King's birthday Jan. 19. This is all well and good.
I am, however, a bit peeved that your newspaper always goes to great lengths to demonstrate your devotion to Dr. King's memory, at the same time ignoring the memory of this state's greatest son. I mean, of course, Robert E. Lee, who also displayed tremendous courage, intelligence, leadership and sacrifice in the War for Southern Independence.
The people of this commonwealth, no thanks to you, are proud of their history. By your silence you diminish the memory of great men like Lee and Stonewall Jackson.
The federal government has been trying to do this since the war. It is not considered "politically correct" to honor the men of the Confederacy lest honor also be done to the cause for which they fought.
Wake up, Roanoke Times & World-News. This is Virginia and these are two of our greatest native sons. There was no dishonor in the cause they fought for. They deserve our undying gratitude and respect. If you have no pride in this state's great heroes, then you are either completely ignorant of them, which makes you a scalawag in my book; or you are "politically correct" Yankees who need to move back to Pennsylvania, West Virginia, or wherever you came from, and let true Virginians run the paper.
I encourage all Virginians who still honor men such as Lee and Jackson to show their respect by flying either the state flag of Virginia or any of the national flags of the Confederacy on Jan. 19, the anniversary of Robert E. Lee's birthday. WAYNE D. CARLSON RADFORD

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB