Photo image says it all: Confederate General

"Virginia governor angers blacks by celebrating Confederates

By American staff
Saturday, April 10, 2010 8:26 PM CDT

A move by the governor of Virginia that he said was intended to boost tourism has instead angered many of his neighbors – those who are black.

Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, a Republican, has declared that April will be Confederate History Month in Virginia, a tradition instituted by a former Republican governor. It had not been observed for the past eight years when Democrats controlled the Governor’s Mansion.

“Governor McDonnell's proclamation was offensive and offered a disturbing revision of the Civil War and the brutal era that followed,” said Del. Kenneth Cooper Alexander (D-Norfolk), chairman of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, as reported by the Washington Post.

McDonnell's proclamation notes that “it is important for all Virginians to reflect upon our Commonwealth’s shared history, to understand the sacrifices of the Confederate leaders, soldiers and citizens during the period of the Civil War” – yet amazingly makes no reference to the fact that those soldiers were fighting, in part, to preserve the institution of slavery.

“Virginia has worked hard to move beyond the very things for which Governor McDonnell seems nostalgic,” Alexander said.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, a Democrat, showed more tact in appointing a multiracial Civil War Sesquicentennial Commission to come up with ways to observe the 150th anniversary of the war next year.

 

Like the Virginia governor, Nixon said the commission was intended to boost tourism."