Virginia Governor Cancels “Confederate History Month”

Via Pam Steele

 Mediaite

VERBATIM

After controversially declaring last April as Confederate History Month Virginia’s Republican governor Bob McDonnell has decided to cancel the event for next April.

McDonnell made his announcement at a conference titled “Race, Slavery, and the Civil War,” which was being held at Norfolk State University.

“Slavery was an evil and inhumane practice that reduced people to property,” the first-term governor informed his audience at the historically black college. “It left a stain on the soul of this nation.”
These comments echo similar ones he made in April, during the thick of the Confederate History Month controversy. A week into the month, he issued a written statement in which he apologized to “any fellow Virginian who has been offended or disappointed.”

The Republican governor now faces another offended and disappointed group: The Sons of Confederate Veterans, an organization that promotes Confederate History Month in the few states in which it’s recognized, claim that “the vast majority of citizens of Virginians support Confederate History Month.”

“Our organization is terribly disappointed by this action,” said Brag Bowling, the “commander” of the SCV’s Virginian division. He added:

Nobody’s ever been able to reason with me and tell me why we’re honoring Yankees in Virginia. The only northerners in Virginia were the ones that came to Virginia and killed thousands of Virginia citizens when they invaded.

Gov. McDonnell, however, begs to differ. As he said himself, “One hundred and fifty years is long enough for Virginia to fight the Civil War.”