Virginia is for lovers...of confederate history!

It seems logical enough that the state of Virginia, home of numerous Civil War battlefields and historic sites, would want its residents to know about the state's wartime past. It's good for general knowledge and for tourism. Perhaps, then, the state would even have a month devoted to the history of the war--Civil War History Month, perhaps, just like Women's History or African American History Months.

But this is the state where in recent months state universities were told to end their anti-discrimination policies towards gays and the state legislature passed a bill to allow residents to carry guns into restaurants. So, in true Virginian style, the governor signed a proclamation today making April "Confederate History Month."

You could argue that since Virginia was the seat of the Confederacy, this makes some sense. But beyond the far-from-PC name choice, there is the proclamation itself. While the last governor to make the proclamation in 2002, Jim Gilmore, had added language condemning slavery to George Allen*'s original 1997 declaration, the current governor Bob McDonnell's proclamation never mentions slavery. The proclamation also describes the conflict as "a four year war between the states for independence."

The language choices are hardly surprising, given that the group which urged McDonnell to sign the proclamation is the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The opening lines on the group's website claims that: "The preservation of liberty and freedom was the motivating factor in the South's decision to fight the Second American Revolution" [italics in original]. The "charge" to the group is to fight for "the vindication of the cause for which we fought" and to defend the Confederates' virtues, principles, and ideals. I don't think it's overreaching to suggest that all this is code for protecting white supremacy and pushing back against the federal government.

The truth is that this proclamation isn't really about the past, anyway; it's about making a political appeal to a conservative base that remains uncomfortably similar to Virginians 150 years ago. While it's still legal to discriminate against gays and people who would prefer not to get shot, even Virginia politicians realize they can't directly go after African Americans. The confederate past has been revived not to learn from the past but as a present-day tool for the state's bigots.

*Yes, this is the Allen of "macaca" fame.


UPDATE: Check out the Washington Post's strongly-worded editorial on this subject

ANOTHER, more positive, UPDATE: McDonnell apologizes and adds anti-slavery language