Mataconis: An Open Letter to Governor McDonnell
By JR Hoeft | Friday, April 9th, 2010 | PolicyI concur with Doug Mataconis’ proposal to change Confederate History Month to “Civil War” History Month next year.
Doug lays out his argument in an open letter to the governor today, and he is not just critical of the governor’s first-draft ommission of slavery from the proclamation:
“It’s worth noting that in his Cornerstone Speech in March 1861, Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens called slavery and the subjugation of an entire race to be the cornerstone upon which the Confederate States of America were founded. Setting aside a day [from J.R. - let alone a month!] to commemorate such a government, or even just Virginia’s involvement in that government, is not in fitting with the image that Virginia, one of the birth places of the American Revolution and home to some of it’s greatest Presidents, should be projecting to the rest of the United States and the world.”
Jim Riley also provides his thoughts.
“We cannot forget, nor should we forget the war that literally pitted brother against brother — some families such as the Crittendens and Terrills had brothers who were brigadier generals on opposing sides – resulting in the greatest spillage of American blood at the hands of one another. By broadening the context to include both Union and Confederate, it will bring to light the full history and deepen everyone’s understanding of the conflict as it relates to Virginia.”
We live at a time where it is important to remember the totality of our shared Virginia Heritage – and that includes its ties to Slavery, the Union and the Confederacy.
Governor McDonnell knows this well.
In order to fully appreciate and understand the context of that dark period of time in our national history, we should commemorate it not by dedicating it to one side that fought in that war, but remember the period itself.
I support both Mataconis and Riley and continue my call to change Lee-Jackson Day to Virginia Heritage Day.
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Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
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3 Responses to "Mataconis: An Open Letter to Governor McDonnell"
Obviously you have never attended re-enactments or other ceremonies affiliated with Confederate history events. The Union troops are always represented in the re-enactments and the proper respect for the Union Veterans is typically a part of Confederate ceremonies. Changing from Confederate History to Civil War history is a meaningless semantic change.
We should celebrate the bravery of our Confederate Veterans every day. I fly both the U.S. flag and the Battle flag at my home and at my business, and I enjoy the stimulating discussions neighbors and friends have regarding their own Confederate Veteran ancestors.
It would be prudent for the government to refrain from proclaiming various months to be dedicated to one particular group.
As we begin the Sesquicentennial celebration, everyone should join in and fly the Battle flag along with the U.S. flag. Richmond should have Battle flags flying all along Broad Street to welcome visitors to the former Confederate capital.
By my view, the Confederate history groups are of the few patriotic groups left in America. I would want any one of them in my foxhole. Most Confederates fought out of loyalty to their country and not over slavery. To my knowledge, few owned slaves.
Few are willing to look through the smoke screen to the past.. why is it so taboo to also acknowledge the influence of black and muslim slave traders who harvested mothers, fathers, sisters etc from african tribes and sold them to old southern democrat (& other) plantation owners?
About 6 minutes into this pastors perspective it gets interesting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRxwBSjhw38
I find it ironic that some demand that the confederacy was all about slavery but some of those same misguided souls get defensive when the rest of the story is told.
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