Wow, our bone-head governor strikes again. I'm just SO proud he's from Va. Beach.
Virginia nuts: Confederates ride again, at least for a month
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
In "Requiem for a Nun," Southern novelist William Faulkner wrote a line that is often misquoted: "The past is never dead. It isn't even past."
Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell understands that great writer's lament, having declared April as "Confederate History Month."
Missing from the Republican's proclamation was a recognition that the Confederacy was a seditious movement that fought to maintain the legitimacy of slavery and its expansion into Western Territories. Such nostalgia is possible only in a country committed to ignoring a tragic mistake.
As the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War arrives next year, a month dedicated to celebrating the Confederacy is an assault on the clear arc of history.
Mr. McDonnell insists he isn't trying to appease conservatives by honoring those who fought to defend slavery. He and other apologists would have Americans believe that thousands of soldiers died over something as innocuous as "states' rights" without admitting that they also fought to preserve an elitist, inhuman institution.
Gov. McDonnell may be clever enough to believe he's speaking in code, but we've seen this game before. When it comes to race and the maneuvers of some Southern politicians, the past is never dead.
