Confederate History Month

Confederate History Month is a month designated by seven state governments in the Southern United States for the purpose of recognizing and honoring the history of the Confederate States of America. April has traditionally been chosen, as Confederate Memorial Day falls during that month in many of these states. The designation of a month as Confederate History Month began in 1994.[1]

See also: Confederate Memorial Day

State declarations

Although Confederate Memorial Day is a holiday in most Southern states, the tradition of having a Confederate History Month is not uniform. State governments that have regularly declared Confederate History Month are as follows:

Politics

Confederate History Month and related celebrations have been controversial due to the contentious place of slavery in the history of the United States.[5] When Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell issued a proclamation resurrecting Confederate History Month in 2010, controversy arose due to the proclamation's omission of slavery.[6] McDonnell later announced, "The proclamation issued by this Office designating April as Confederate History Month contained a major omission. The failure to include any reference to slavery was a mistake, and for that I apologize to any fellow Virginian who has been offended or disappointed. The abomination of slavery divided our nation, deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights, and led to the Civil War. Slavery was an evil, vicious and inhumane practice which degraded human beings to property, and it has left a stain on the soul of this state and nation."[7] McDonnell has indicated that he will not issue a proclamation in future years. In 2007, the Virginia General Assembly approved a formal statement of “profound regret” for the Commonwealth's history of slavery.[8]

On April 11, 2010, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour defended McDonnell on CNN's State of the Union, calling the controversy raised by McDonnell's proclamation "just a nit". "It's trying to make a big deal out of something that doesn't matter for diddly," Barbour said.[9] Unlike the Virginia proclamation, the 2010 Alabama proclamation noted, "our recognition of Confederate history also recognizes that slavery was one of the causes of the war, an issue in the war, was ended by the war and slavery is hereby condemned."[10]

See also

References
  1. Schweitzer, Jeff (April 22, 2015). "Confederate History Month: An Embarrassing Abomination". Huffington Post.
  2. Glanton, Dahleen (22 March 2009). "Southerners share confederate history". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  3. sb27.html
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-04-13. Retrieved 2010-04-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Walker, Katherine (September 2008). "United, Regardless, and a Bit Regretful: Confederate History Month, the Slavery Apology, and the Failure of Commemoration". American Nineteenth Century History. 9 (3): 315–338. doi:10.1080/14664650802288431. ISSN 1466-4658.
  6. Confederate history month rises again - Washington Times
  7. Times Dispatch Staff (7 April 2010). "McDonnell statement on omission of slavery in confederate history proclamation". Richmond Times Dispatch. Archived from the original on 5 October 2012.
  8. Craig, Tim (3 February 2007). "In Va. House, 'Profound Regret' on Slavery". The Washington Post.
  9. Belenky, Alexander (11 April 2010). "Haley Barbour Defends Bob McDonell's Confederate History Proclamation, Slavery Omission (VIDEO)". Huffington Post.
  10. "Confederate History and Heritage Month". March 22, 2010. Archived from the original on June 17, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-12.

Further reading
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