[tipokotap]

McDonnell's Confederate History Month proclamation irks civil rights leaders

By Anita Kumar and Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 7, 2010

RICHMOND -- Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, reviving a controversy that had been dormant for eight years, has declared that April will be Confederate History Month in Virginia, a move that angered civil rights leaders Tuesday but that political observers said would strengthen his position with his conservative base.

The two previous Democratic governors had refused to issue the mostly symbolic proclamation honoring the soldiers who fought for the South in the Civil War. McDonnell (R) revived a practice started by Republican governor George Allen in 1997. McDonnell left out anti-slavery language that Allen's successor, James S. Gilmore III (R), had included in his proclamation.

McDonnell said Tuesday that the move was designed to promote tourism in the state, which next year will mark the 150th anniversary of the start of the war. McDonnell said he did not include a reference to slavery because "there were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states. Obviously, it involved slavery. It involved other issues. But I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for Virginia."

The proclamation was condemned by the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus and the NAACP. Former governor L. Douglas Wilder called it "mind-boggling to say the least" that McDonnell did not reference slavery or Virginia's struggle with civil rights in his proclamation. Though a Democrat, Wilder has been supportive of McDonnell and boosted his election efforts when he declined to endorse the Republican's opponent, R. Creigh Deeds.

"Confederate history is full of many things that unfortunately are not put forth in a proclamation of this kind nor are they things that anyone wants to celebrate," he said. "It's one thing to sound a cause of rallying a base. But it's quite another to distort history."

The seven-paragraph declaration calls for Virginians to "understand the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens during the period of the Civil War."

McDonnell had quietly made the proclamation Friday by placing it on his Web site, but it did not attract attention in the state capital until Tuesday. April also honors child abuse prevention, organ donations, financial literacy and crime victims.

After a fall campaign spent focusing almost exclusively on jobs and the economy, McDonnell had been seen in recent weeks as largely ceding conservative ground to the state's activist attorney general, Ken Cuccinelli II. The proclamation could change that view among Republicans who believe appropriate respect for the state's Confederate past has been erased by an over-allegiance to political correctness, observers said.

"It helps him with his base," said Mark Rozell, a political scientist at George Mason University. "These are people who support state's rights and oppose federal intrusion."

Said Patrick M. McSweeney, a former state GOP chairman: "I applaud McDonnell for doing it. I think it takes a certain amount of courage."

The Virginia NAACP and the state's Legislative Black Caucus called the proclamation an insult to a large segment of the state's population, particularly because it never acknowledges slavery.

"Governor McDonnell's proclamation was offensive and offered a disturbing revision of the Civil War and the brutal era that followed," said Del. Kenneth Cooper Alexander (D-Norfolk), chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus. "Virginia has worked hard to move beyond the very things for which Governor McDonnell seems nostalgic."

Rest of article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...T2010040604979

[Sawyer]

Doug Wilder said it best: "Mindboggling."

[tipokotap]

There's a long running joke (which is in reality quite truthful) that Pennsylvania is Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with Arkansas in the middle. Seems Virginia has this same sort of split personality. Wilder was quite progressive, and you had Mark Warner (among my absolute favorite Democrats) and Tim Kaine who won election to the governors post by sizable margins, and enjoyed solid backing. You also have an extremely conservative (and a sizable one at that) base in pockets of Virginia who also have success in statewide elections - the governor who made this declaration is said to be far less conservative than the state's AG.

Seems more and more states are becoming fractured by hard political divides - which makes stuff like this declaration appealing to a large portion of the population, while also being offensive to a large portion of the population.

I find this really sad. And yet, there are people in this state who genuinely believe that their Confederate roots are something to be very proud of.

[Wluwsdtn]

The Republican "Southern Strategy" lives. This is pretty sad.

[iNYZgxNC]

The omission of language about slavery is wrong, but otherwise I actually don't have a problem with this. Confederate history is a huge deal in the South, and it's not always all about racism.

[soydaykam]

Although I'm not sure I agree with marking it by devoting a month to it, our history, good or bad, is still our history.

[Wluwsdtn]

Breaking news from WASHPOST: VA Gov. McDonnell (R) apologized for failing to include slavery in proclamation of Confederate History Month.

http://twitter.com/donnabrazile

[Ettiominiw]

Breaking news from WASHPOST: VA Gov. McDonnell (R) apologized for failing to include slavery in proclamation of Confederate History Month.

http://twitter.com/donnabrazile

Screw him!!!The confederate soldiers main purpose to fight was to maintain slavery. Boo Hoo the confederates lost the war and they lost their slaves, deal. I've got something the confederates can celebrate. I'm really over the open hostilities and bigotries on America parading as first Amendment rights.

[tipokotap]

Regardless of the slavery apology, (and what is always forgotten in this debate), is that the Confederate Army killed over 110,000 and wounded over 275,000 Americans. These pro-Cofederacy proclamations celebrate the murder of American soldiers, which no one talks about.

[Sawyer]

What has been written about confederate soldiers in terms of their genuine understanding about what they were fighting for?

I'm not trying to make a point. I'm genuinely curious.

[Theariwinna]

I understand the sentiments, but... the Confederate Army was conscripted (in the first draft America had). It's not like they had a choice.

I find the South's general idolization of the Confederacy utterly ridiculous, but if we honor American soldiers who voluntarily entered the US army and invaded Iraq (and I think we should), then those who died because they were drafted also deserve to be honored.

I guess it would make more sense to celebrate/remember the "Civil War in the South," then "the Confederacy"