THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 11, 1996 TAG: 9602100009
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
Regarding ``Insulting celebration coverage'' (letter, Jan. 30): We have celebrated ``Lee/Jackson Day'' in Virginia since the early 1920s; the Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration was mandated as a holiday by the federal government in 1986. This mandate was the product of intense lobbying efforts by African Americans and civil-rights leaders.
The two former slave owners do not represent the same ideals as the late civil-rights leader, but they did have one thing in common: loyalty to their respective causes. Generals Lee and Jackson would have fought for the Union army had Virginia not seceded from the United States, but their dedication to their home state and its leaders caused them to decide between loyalty to their homeland or adbication. They both held to their commitment, regardless of political or social pressure.
Likewise, Martin Luther King Jr. held to his commitment for racial equality and social justice for all mankind, regardless of race or creed, the difference being that the two generals' commitment was to the state (hence the state observance, not federal) and King's was for the whole country.
One does not supplant a longstanding state holiday that honors loyalty to that state with a birthday observance of a revolutionist whose views changed the paradigm of how we view each other in America.
All three men should continue to be honored, if not together, then on different days, if only out of principle; that principle is their dedication to their causes.
JOHN D. CORSON
Chesapeake, Jan. 31, 1996 by CNB