President Obama, in an interview for Good Morning America, said the omission of slavery from a Virginia proclamation dubbing April “Confederate History Month” was “unacceptable,” but pointed out that Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) had acknowledged and fixed the omission.
“I’m a big history buff. And I think that understanding the history of the Confederacy and understanding the history of the Civil War is something that every American and every young American should, should be a part of,” Obama said. “Now, I don’t think you can understand the Confederacy and the Civil War unless you understand slavery. And so, I think that was an unacceptable omission. I think the governor’s now acknowledged that.”
“And I think it’s just a reminder that when we talk about issues like slavery that are so fraught with pain and emotion, that we’d better do so thinking through how this is going to affect a lot of people,” he continued. “And their sense of whether they’re part of a commonwealth or part of our broader society.”
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