Confederate History Month

Confederate History Month is a month annually designated by several 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.

United States declarations

State governments that regularly and traditionally have declared Confederate History Month are as follows:

• Alabama
• Mississippi
• Texas (since 1999)
• Louisiana
• Florida (since 2007)
• Georgia (since 2009)
• Virginia (1994-2002, 2010-)

Four states that were historically part of the Confederacy, Arkansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, do not have a tradition of declaring a Confederate History Month.

Local governments in the above states also frequently approve an independent declaration for the same larger purpose. This is also true in states where the larger legislative body does not officially recognize Confederate History Month. Some examples include:

• Prestonburg, Kentucky
• City of Columbia, Tennessee
• Putnam County, Tennessee

Politics

The declaration is considered controversial because in addition to celebrating the history of the Confederacy, it can be offensive for those who believe that the South's only position in the Civil War to have been based on defending the practice of slavery. "When the state starts getting in the business of honoring the Confederacy, whose goal was African-American enslavement, we feel that has no place in the public domain," said King Salim A. Khalfani, executive director of the state of Virginia's National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "It brings to light the cause of the Confederacy ..."

Having issued a statement in early April 2010 celebrating the Confederacy, Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell promptly backtracked with regard to an omission in the original statement, announcing: "“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". In 2007, the Virginia General Assembly approved a formal statement of “profound regret” for the Commonwealth’s history of slavery

On April 11, 2010, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R-Miss) defended Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's omission of slavery from his "Confederate History Month" proclamation. Appearing on CNN's "State of the Union," Barber said that the firestorm of controversy raised by McDonnell's proclamation is "just a nit". "It's trying to make a big deal out of something that doesn't matter for diddly," Barbour claimed.

The declarations do not exclude honoring any races or backgrounds that served in the Confederacy. Many major races and backgrounds served in the confederacy and are honored including White, Black, Native American, Hispanic and Jewish.

External links

• Virginia's Split Personality On The Confederacy - audio report by NPR
• If You Think the Civil War Ever Ended, Think Again by Adele Stan, Alternet
• Rebel Yell: Virginia's declaration of April as Confederate History Month by Newsweek magazine