Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia pulled a political faux pas this week when he (and however many dozen staffers that worked on the project) seemingly forgot all about slavery when declaring April to be Confederate History Month. There has been a lot of talk about how this was a colossal mistake, but I think we are forgetting something else here. What isn’t racist about a Confederate History Month?
I think by now we have heard all the arguments that a Confederate History Month is about State’s Rights and celebrating the heritage of the South, but if that were true then why wouldn’t it be called Southern History Month? The term Confederate carries with it a lot of negative meaning and no true positive aspects in my mind, but maybe that has something to do with my spending more time at the vegan coffee shop around the corner from my apartment in DC. Ok maybe it nothing to do with my plug for Sticky Fingers, located 1370 Park Road NW in Washington, DC who make fantastic all vegan, gluten and lactose free pastries and treats. Give me free cupcakes.
When I think Confederacy, I immediately think about the actions that led up to and were carried throughout the Civil War by the southern states. Why was there a Confederacy? Was there a great battle between the people who wanted a big federal government and the people who wanted more power to the states? Yes, there was. Unfortunately that’s where your state’s rights argument begins and ends. The states wanted to be free from a union, so that they wouldn’t lose the ability to have slaves. This is not only evidenced throughout all the recorded history of that time, but also on my Topps American Heritage trading card sets, BOTH 2008 AND 2009. So when someone says that the Confederacy was all about state’s rights, I want you to visualize that phrase as “state’s rights…,” because the full phrase if correctly stated would be, “state’s rights to have slaves.” You see, the big bad federal government was working on getting rid of slavery with landmark decisions such as the Amistad case and the Confederate states wanted none of it.
Let’s take a look at the technological contributions of the south throughout the “Confederate” time period. There were certainly a lot of agricultural developments throughout that period of time. Irrigation became more sophisticated and more technology was added to farming so that plantation owners could get the most value out of their slaves…wait…there I went and mentioned the “S” word again. That ruins that technological/agricultural contribution part of Confederate History as well.
In reality, the Confederacy made the most successful stance against the United States’ federal government in our nation’s young history. But is this action something that should be celebrated? If this were occurring today, wouldn’t we call the Confederacy a group of terrorists? Their goal was to divide this country, and for a time, they succeeded. Why should we be happy about that? The State of Georgia wasn’t proud of this history at all and took the image of the Confederate flag out of their state flag in 2001. Honoring these confederate accomplishments would be the equivalent of Germany celebrating a Nazi history month…maybe they would even leave out that nasty holocaust part, similar to how Gov. McDonnell left out slavery.
Don’t take what I have written here as a knock on the South. I am a big fan of the south. I like country music (not the Dixie Chicks before you think it), southern cooking and of course southern women. I think if they want to have a southern history month or a one day remembrance of those who lost their lives fighting for what they believe in (cough…slavery), go for it. But for me, the majority of the true heroes of the south during that time period are already memorialized in their own month, the month of February, a.k.a. Black History Month.
Tim Young
Tim Young was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. He
has served his time in government working for multiple Senators on the
Hill as well as former Governor Ehrlich of MD., the Social Security
Administration, and NIH. A spokesperson, manager and strategist for
multiple campaigns, Young has amassed quite a resume of political
experience, ranging from national to grass roots. He holds a law
degree from the University of Baltimore and has completed the
coursework needed for his doctorate in Public Policy. An award
winning stand-up comic, Young leads the creative teams for multiple
non-partisan lobbying efforts as well as nationwide PSA's. 
Very funny & poignant. Your spin on the political world always makes me laugh & is always on point!
The Civil War was about State’s Rights; not slavery.
While racism is an overarching concern, the fact that the Governor is glorifying a dark period in American History and a seccessionist, traitorous movement is profoundly disconcerting. It also demonstrates a contempt for our current form of Federal/Constitutional Government and endorses the supposed virtues of a confederacy. This should be villified not glorified.
You talk about Ga. Removing the Army of Northern Va. Battle Flag from their state flag in 2001. Have you seen what they replaced it with ? The 1st Confederate National Flag…..W/ an State insignia in it…..You should do more research before you comment….
The concept is that they took the “familiar” confederate flag out of it because of their want to avoid its negative connotations. I left that word out, but it doesn’t detract from the point.
As someone who was born and raised in the South, I can say this without “knocking” the South. Don’t get me wrong, I love the South…BUT slavery is a very painful subject to me and most Southern people. I cringe when I see Confederate flags and decals on cars, etc. It is truly shameful that human beings were treated as property. Celebrating Confederate History month only creates more negative feelings. Southern History Month….okay…but let’s not glorify something as cruel as slavery.
The Civil War was about one single issue, the right to own another human being. The Confederates were not fighting for any other right.
I was born in Virginia, in the heart of the Confederacy. The war was, as has been stated, about states rights and not about slavery. We are still having the same problem as the current administration tries to shove “Healthcare”, amnesty for illegals, and other socialist garbage down our throat. This is what the war was about and everyone had best wake up and smell the tea, the coffee is being polluted.
For a detailed and indepth understanding about the events leading up to the Civil War pick up a copy of Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States: 1492 to Present. State’s Rights was a charade.
Yeah for an unbiased portrayal of anything Howard Zinn is an outstanding source of information.
The civil war was about many issues. Primarily slavery and federalism as well as the relationship between the two.
just to clarify i was being really sarcastic about Howard Zinn… The guy is a left wing nutjob, as is his crappy book.
Strange how he manages to reference everything to articles or letters that were written at the time long before he was born.
I just feel like the northern states should celebrate Union day or something… It’d probably be more popular, Americans like winners.