DANIEL MCCLOUD

Did you know that the states of Alabama and Mississippi are two states that celebrate the birthdays of both Robert E. Lee and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the same day? The level of irony when considering this is almost unimaginable. One holiday celebrates the man who led the Confederate army in a war to maintain the institution of slavery and the Antebellum South. While the other individual is known for his non-violence approach to seeking equal rights for all Americans, particularly Blacks and the disenfranchised, and was ultimately assassinated on April 4, 1968, for his efforts.

Alabama and Mississippi have celebrated Lee’s birthday since the late 1800s and King’s since 1983. Southern states began celebrating days honoring Lee and other Confederate leaders shortly after the Civil War. Lee was born in Virginia on January 19, 1807, and died on October 12, 1870. King was born on January 15, 1929.

In addition to Lee’s observance, Alabama also recognizes Confederate Memorial Day on the fourth Monday in April and the birthday of Jefferson Davis, who served as president of the Confederacy, on the first Monday in June. Other forms of this celebration are found in several southern states, including Florida, Texas, and Tennessee. Observers of this holiday say it’s a remembrance of the more than 258,000 Confederate soldiers who died in the Civil War.

But what of the more than five million enslaved Blacks and their descendants who suffered as a result of the institution of slavery? Some will say that there are holidays that honor African American heroes, and that would be true. However, although Alabama celebrates the life of civil rights leader Rosa Parks, state offices remain open, and county and city governments can determine whether they choose to observe the holiday. There are others, including the most recent, the newest federal holiday, Juneteenth National Independence Day, celebrating the end of slavery in the United States. But at the state level, governments vary considerably in whether they commemorate it as an official holiday, a day of observance, or an amalgamation of both.

The issue of what should and should not be celebrated tends to be personal and, in recent years, political, divided along racial and party lines. So how does one choose what and when to celebrate?

For the sake of debate, let us strip away the political aspect of the topic. From a personal standpoint, absent many nationally recognized holidays, most people probably choose to celebrate the occasions passed down to them through their family, which are embedded in their culture. Thus, those who have been taught that Robert E. Lee was a hero for fighting to preserve their way of life will probably see no issue with the fact that his fame came from his efforts to maintain a system of hegemony designed for wealth resulting from torturous slave labor. Conversely, the descendants of those enslaved people see no need to celebrate General Lee and rightfully take great offense when comparing the challenges faced when seeking to have Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday recognized as a holiday.

So what’s the solution? Firstly, simply having history passed down without context does not give an individual the right to ignore certain aspects of that history. As it relates to any subject, educating oneself is the duty of every individual, regardless of whether guilt is associated with this knowledge. Those who celebrate the Confederate holidays might argue that not honoring Robert E. Lee is to erase a part of their history and their ancestors’ role. However, doesn’t book banning do the same thing? I say that revisionist history is harmful and that truth must be examined, regardless of the pain and guilt that may come with it. Plenty of documents, monuments, and individuals are celebrated annually and supposedly represent the best of America. However, many of these artifacts represent a bygone era and fail to recognize that the “sins of the fathers” continue to damage and divide this country. Therefore, as Maya Angelou once famously stated, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” It is safe to say that America knows better.