Virginia goes full yeehaw
Virginia Gov. McDonnell proclaims April ‘Confederate History Month.’
Confederate flag at McDonnell campaign booth, 2009The Washington Post reports today that Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has issued a proclamation that “quietly declared April 2010 Confederate History Month, bringing back a designation in Virginia that his two Democratic predecessors – Mark Warner and Tim Kaine – refused to do.” According to the Lynchburg News and Advance, McDonnell’s proclamation “comes in advance of an upcoming anniversary – it was on April 17, 1861 that Virginia seceded from the union.” The proclamation makes no mention of slavery, but does call on Virginians “to understand the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens during the period of the Civil War, and to recognize how our history has led to our present”.
The Post notes that “Republican governors George Allen and Jim Gilmore made similar proclamations. But in 2002, Warner broke with their action, calling such proclamations a ‘lightning rod’ that does not help bridge divisions between whites and blacks in Virginia.”</em>
T shirts used to proclaim Virginia as “made for lovers”. Guess they need a new version:
“Virginia was made for hillbilly racists”
