Talk:Robert E. Lee Day

Someone doesn't know how to check page history

I'm the one who started this page,and I just want to know who worked on this page. answer whenever you can.W.S.1007(Wolfscout1007 (talk) 02:49, 26 March 2009 (UTC))

More Information please

This article would benefit from additional information such as: when and how this holiday was founded. ----Design (talk) 22:33, 26 January 2014 (UTC)

I was thinking the same thing just now. It'd be nice to know whether this holiday was established prior to M.L. King Day or if it was instituted in response. At least one source [1] implies that Lee-Jackson Day was already a thing in Virginia before M.L. King Day was a thing. D. F. Schmidt (talk) 19:57, 18 January 2016 (UTC)

A recent news article I read implied Robert E. Lee Day began (in Alabama) in the 1930s, and that MLK Day began in 1986. This is off the top of my head, but I can dig it up if a news source counts as reliable. I'd rather go with a historical book, though. Psychotic Spartan 123 00:47, 16 January 2017 (UTC)

Socio-Political Significance

This article seems incomplete without at least the mention that the one fact cementing any association with MLK day. Many people in the Southern U.S. do not feel comfortable taking off of work to celebrate the life of a historical figure for whom, by choice, they have no love lost, as it were, and with whose political purposes and religious beliefs they, in no uncertain terms, have nothing in common. They do not, however, wish to miss a paid government holiday. Whether celebrated on the same day, as it is in Arkansas, or not, Robert E. Lee day provides a solution for them. In addition, it serves as a means of communicating their socio-political viewpoint in a way that is politically acceptable: any connotations either politically incorrect or improper are, by common convention, omitted from the discourse, even as this very fact, though salient, was heretofore elided from the main page of this entry, and perhaps may be again, as I am beginning to think that once I source it (as it stands I know it from personal experience) the foregoing, minus this comment, is good enough mention. I originally logged in to ask that question. ----Johanna Faust 09:55 March 30 2015 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Johanna faust (talk • contribs)

References

Tennessee

Is it alright if I add information stating that Robert E. Lee Day is still observed in Tennessee?MagicatthemovieS (talk) 21:07, 12 July 2019 (UTC)MagicatthemovieS

Georgia

Georgia still celebrates this day as well. Under Gov. Kemp, the name was dropped from executive orders, but the date is still a holiday. Here is an example from the state official holiday list for 2021. http://team.georgia.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/2021-State-Holidays-08.17.20.pdf — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1700:18F0:CD00:108B:E4A8:3404:DFB5 (talk) 21:50, 18 January 2021 (UTC)

'Neutrality'

User:NapoleonicSimple made some changes to the lede in the name of objectivity. My main rationale for reverting is that they do not reflect the cited source; they also seem to imply that the 'Lost Cause' is true (apologies if I've misinterpreted the intention; 'alleged myth' is a bit of a head-scratcher) and that this only is a 21c. concern. The NPS source in fact says "Following the Civil Rights movement, more Civil War historians began to challenge the Lost Cause memory." Sparafucil (talk) 20:05, 21 January 2025 (UTC)

For awareness' sake, this was my original post on Sparafucil's Talk page:

"I'm curious to hear your thoughts on what exactly constitutes a neutral tone in language, the maintenance of which is one of the core tenets of the site. I ask because you continue to revert my edit to the 'Robert E. Lee Day' article, though to me the edit seems perfectly innocuous (all the while accusing me of engaging in 'Edit Warring'.)

This is the original lede: Robert E. Lee Day is a state holiday in parts of the Southern US, commemorating the Confederate general Robert E. Lee. It is rooted in the rise of the Lost Cause myth prevalent throughout the Southern United States, as Lee was a central figure in Lost Cause mythology due to his social status, military exploits, and personality.

This is my revision: Robert E. Lee Day is a state holiday in parts of the Southern US, commemorating the Confederate general Robert E. Lee. 21st century historians commonly trace the holiday's roots to the alleged Lost Cause myth prevalent throughout the Southern United States, as Lee was a central figure in the Lost Cause narrative due to his social status, military exploits, and personality.

It seems to me that my reframing is providing identical information, only now in the neutral tone Wikipedia recommends. This is an observation concerning cultural perspective; it cannot be so matter-of-factly stated as the date of a battle."

You've misquoted me, either incidentally or intentionally, (note I don't assume bad faith; it could have just been an honest mistake) by excluding 'Lost Cause' from the cited phrasing 'alleged Lost Cause myth'. Anyway, for the sake of explanation: the 'Lost Cause myth' inherently reflects an oppositional framing of a cultural understanding that 'Lost Cause myth' proponents are labeling the 'Lost Cause'. The 'Lost Cause myth' is not a set in stone fact; it is a cultural thesis, thus why I say 'alleged'. Avoiding presentation of this framing as objective fact is especially appropriate since it is used in this article in such a sweeping generalization ("prevalent throughout the Southern United States...") NapoleonicSimple (talk) 20:26, 21 January 2025 (UTC)

I'll give you an olive branch and make the edit to reflect your concern over the erroneous 21c framing, given that the source points to a post Civil Rights trend. NapoleonicSimple (talk) 20:31, 21 January 2025 (UTC)

Please let me know if you have any issue with this wording: In the wake of the Civil Rights movement, many historians have argued that the holiday has its roots in the Lost Cause myth prevalent throughout the Southern United States, as Lee was a central figure in Lost Cause mythology due to his social status, military exploits, and personality. NapoleonicSimple (talk) 20:37, 21 January 2025 (UTC)

I don't use single quotes for direct quotation. The above is better, but the implication that not all historians are on board still begs a citation to another reliable source. Sparafucil (talk) 22:24, 21 January 2025 (UTC)

The issue now is that these's no discussion of historiography in the body of the article. Why don't you have a go at that? Sparafucil (talk) 23:30, 23 January 2025 (UTC)

They will not as they were blocked via an ANI thread for SPA harassment, so this is now safely closed. Nate • (chatter) 19:27, 28 January 2025 (UTC)