Lee-Jackson-King Day?!?

While Martin Luther King (MLK) Day became a national holiday in 1983 when Ronald Reagan signed it into law, this holiday in mostly celebrated in the American South. Martin Luther King has become a Southern hero of sorts for his work during the Civil Right movement and nearly every town in the South has both a statue of MLK and and MLK drive... or boulevard... or circle.
However, nearly every city in the South also has a statue of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson displayed prominently somewhere in their town as well. Such passion for both figures in the South, pride both in the advances made during the Civil Rights Movement as well as pride in the leaders of the Civil War, has lead to a unique holiday in the state of Virginia, "Lee-Jackson-King" day.

When I first heard of this holiday I thought my parents were just pulling my leg, however after a little bit of wikipedia exploring I found that "Lee-Jackson-King" day was an official Virginia only holiday from 1983 to 2000. In 2000 the holiday was split back up into Lee-Jackson Day and MLK day, however, my family and much of the community still celebrates the holiday together. On this day federal workers get the day off from works, the students are out of school, and many parents take the day off to take the day with their children.

I feel that Lee-Jackson-King day is a very unique Southern holiday and represents uniquely Southern ideals... pride in our past and our progress. One of the best representations of this was a blog I found which discussed the controversy surrounding Lee-Jackson Day this year, yet the dedication with which Virginian's prepared for it and carried it out. This blog can be found here.

Parker


picture courteous of photohome.com