Long Live Gen. Robert E. Lee

from here:
http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/virginia/dp-sou--lees200th0118jan18,0,4113908.story?coll=dp-headlines-virginia

200th anniversary of Robert E. Lee's birth to be commemorated
By ZINIE CHEN SAMPSON
Associated Press Writer

January 18, 2007

RICHMOND, Va. -- History buffs and Confederate enthusiasts are marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Gen. Robert E. Lee, the Southern icon that many still revere as a brilliant military strategist and a Virginia gentleman nearly 150 years after the end of the Civil War.

Several events were planned Friday and through the weekend at key Lee sites, including Washington & Lee University, Lee's birthplace at Stratford Hall Plantation, and in Richmond, the former Confederate capital. Some events already have taken place, and others are planned in the upcoming months.

"Robert E. Lee was an outstanding general, a groundbreaking educator, and a profound gentleman," said S. Waite Rawls III, chief executive of the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond. "But perhaps his greatest moments came after the war, when he worked very hard to reconcile a country that was still deeply divided after a bitter internal conflict. He put aside his personal feelings and did his 'duty'--to lead the South back into the Union."

Lee was born to a prominent family on Jan. 19, 1807, at Stratford Hall Plantation on the bluffs of the Potomac River in Westmoreland County. The 1,900-acre plantation, built in the 1730s, now is a historic site.

Stratford Hall will feature a special "Lee pilgrimage" and a historic interpreter portraying Lee's decision to resign from the U.S. Army upon the secession of Virginia from the Union. Cannon artillery salutes will be held, and visitors can take candlelight tours of the Lee family's home. Saturday's events feature "Lee for Children" tours that allow youngsters to hunt for key items that figured into Lee's childhood, and an opportunity to have their photos taken with "General Lee."

The Museum of the Confederacy is showcasing an oil painting of Lee that was last displayed publicly in 1868 in Paris. The gilt-framed oil painting is on loan from a Richmond-area man who purchased it at an estate sale, and more than 200 limited-edition prints have been sold over the last few weeks to help the struggling museum erase its deficit.

The Virginia chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans planned a banquet to celebrate Lee's life featuring a talk by Pat Falci, who was the historical director for the Civil War movies "Gods and Generals" and "Gettysburg," and portrayed Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill in the latter. Guests were welcome to dress in period attire, said Grayson R. Jennings, a Virginia SCV leader.

While many Southern groups revere him, the glorification of Lee and the Lost Cause strikes a raw nerve among others in a state that still has a "Lee-Jackson Day" to commemorate Lee and Confederate leader Stonewall Jackson.

The Virginia National Association for the Advancement of Colored People last week held a news conference at the Lee statue on Monument Avenue to voice disapproval of state funding to plan and coordinate events for Lee's 200th birthday and make the anniversary integral to the public schools' curriculum.

NAACP executive director King Salim Khalfani doesn't have a problem with those who mark Lee's 200th birthday "as long as public dollars aren't used for promoting the Lost Cause."

"We don't want public dollars and governmental entities participating. They're supposed to represent all Virginians, not just Confederates," Khalfani said.

A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Lee led the Army of Northern Virginia in several Southern victories that earned him the reputation as a top military commander, but he lost the key battle at Gettysburg, considered by many a turning point in the war. In the final weeks of the conflict he took command of the entire depleted Confederate military, eventually surrendering to Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox in April 1865.

After the war, Lee became president of Washington College, now Washington & Lee University, in Lexington.

While Lee is most remembered as a military hero, Washington & Lee history professor J. Holt Merchant recognizes Lee primarily for rebuilding Washington College's war-ravaged grounds and aiming to reunify the nation after the brutal war by helping young Southern men realize the value of education.

Lee wanted former soldiers to "Go home, get an education, marry your wife, rebuild your farm and get on with your life if you can," Merchant said.

He emphasized the practical sciences, but also expanded the school's history, modern languages and literature offerings, Merchant said, with the goal of helping young men to rebuild the South. Other plans, such as starting a medical school, didn't come to fruition because of a lack of funding and because he died just five years after becoming the school's president.

"He was a great general, and he compares well as any general in American history," Merchant said. "But Lee the educator and Lee the reconciler are terribly important here" and perhaps overlooked.

comment: Now, just what fuggin business did the NAACP have in stickin their gotdam nose into the General's Birthday Celebrations ?? OH, they dont want gubmint money and "entities" involved !! I bet the booger-eatin, nose-pickin mohron didnt say that about the Good Rev'ren's Birthday Celebration !!

And talk about "Lost Causes" ?? Just what has Dr. King's efforts got Black Folks anyway ?? The chance to live anywhere they want(gubmint housin), and work anywhere they want(gubmint jobs), and go to schools whereever they want(2nd highest dropout rate)..

That school in Little Rock that Dr. King wanted them kids to go to so bad caint hold a gotdam candlestick to the school that Gen. Lee re-organized, AND NEVER WILL !!

History has been a lot less favorable to Dr. king's Dream than to Gen. Lee's !! Lost Cause my achin ass !!

Gen. Lee's Dream has put a shit-load of HIGHLY EDUCATED and trained young people on our streets and into our Military Fightin Forces.. Dr. King's Dream has built-up an Entitlement Class of fuggin FREELOADERS and crack-head dealers who live next door and scream "DISCRIMINATION" every time the Cops raid and bust em, and nitwit idiots like this King Salim Khalfani above..

So how many stories do you thank are gonna be written about Gen. Lee this Birthday that aint gonna have some reference from the MEDIA WHORE, Mr. Khalifani ?? I'm pretty damn sure that the White Guilt Media wont let many pass unadulterated !!