Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) took so much flak this week for declaring April “Confederate History Month,” without mentioning slavery, that he eventually had to apologize and add an extra clause to his proclamation declaring that slavery was evil and led to the Civil War.
But McDonnell is certainly not alone. Over the past several years, other states that were part of the Confederacy– Texas, Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama — have also proclaimed that April, the month the Civil War began and ended, be dedicated to the study of the Confederate side of the Civil War.
The effort has been led by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a nationwide group which began pushing for such proclamations since 1995, when Georgia Gov. Zell Miller (D) proclaimed the first Confederate History Month.
Current Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) carries on the tradition, each year singling out different individuals or groups who fought in the war.
In 2008, that group was the “many African-Americans both free and slave who saw action in the Confederate armed forces in many combat roles.” In 2009 it was Jewish residents of the Confederacy, and in 2003, Perdue’s first year in office, it was women.
The Georgia state legislature also passed legislation about Confederate History Month last year. The bill honors Savannah’s “long and storied role in the civil rights movement.”
In Texas, the state senate declared April “Confederate History and Heritage Month” back in 1999.
“It is important for all Texans to reflect upon our state’s past and to respect the devotion of her Confederate leaders, soldiers, and citizens to the cause of Southern liberty,” the resolution reads.
Like McDonnell’s proclamation, the Lone Star State’s resolution runs into trouble when slavery comes up.
WHEREAS, In years since the war, the morally abhorrent practice of slavery has in the minds of many Texans become the prime motivation of Southern soldiers, despite the fact that 98 percent of Texas Confederate soldiers never owned a slave and never fought to defend slavery; and
WHEREAS, Politically correct revisionists would have Texas children believe that their Confederate ancestors fought for slavery when in fact most Texans joined the Confederate armed forces to defend their homes, their families, and their proud heritage as Texans
In Alabama, Gov. Bob Riley’s (R) 2010 proclamation makes sure to mention slavery.
WHEREAS, 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
It also refers to the “War Between The States” instead of the Civil War, and reads in part, “WHEREAS, Alabamians have admirably answered the grim call to duty when beckoned, from the era of the musket to that of the missile.”
Gov. Haley Barbour’s (R-MS) 2009 proclamation, as ThinkProgress points out, doesn’t mention slavery. It does charge the local chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans with organizing events around Confederate Heritage Month.
