Sunday, January 25, 2015

Arkansas Proposes Ending R.E. Lee Birthday

In the Montgomery Advertiser, Thursday, January 22, 2015, I read an article by Norman Merchant of the Associated Press saying that two Arkansas legislators had introduced a bill ending the holiday commemorating the birth of Robert E. Lee.

According to the article, Arkansas has recognized Lee's birthday since the 1940s and State lawmakers voted to recognize Martin Luther King's birthday in 1983. Two years later the State of Arkansas combined the celebration of King and Lee.

Norman Merchant reports that the Arkansas Governor, Asa Hutchinson had not decided whether to support the proposal, as of this past Wednesday

Alabama and Mississippi are the other two states to jointly celebrate King and Lee's birthdays on the third Monday in January. As of now, no bills have been filed in either of these two states to change the holiday.

In Virginia, Robert E. Lee's native State,  there is a separate holiday for Robert E. Lee. The Arkansas legislator does not envision doing that in Arkansas. As my Mother would say, I supposed he proposes to "let the cat die" on that one. Isn't it a shame that "political correctness" has become a phobia.

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