This was not a good week for the Confederate heritage community. Organizations like the Sons of Confederate Veterans use February and Black History Month to push a new multi-ethnic agenda as a means to stay relevant and to hide the white supremacist roots of the Confederacy itself.
This propaganda campaign has had no impact on the continued marginalization of the Lost Cause in political and popular culture. of the war.
Earlier this week the Virginia House and Senate backed legislation handing over to local communities the power to decide what to do with their Confederate monuments. The cities to watch moving forward include Charlottesville, whose city council already voted to remove their monuments, as well as Richmond and Norfolk.
The vote was entirely along party lines. The party of Lincoln voted to deny communities the right to decide whether monuments celebrating men who were willing to give their lives for a nation committed to protecting slavery and white supremacy ought to remain while Democrats favored the legislation.
It is very likely that we will see some monuments removed. If you have any doubt whatsoever take a look at this short video of Delegate Jay Jones, who explains why in the clearest moral language.
As if it couldn’t get any worse, Virginia has also abolished Lee-Jackson Day.
Earlier today a judge in North Carolina dismissed a case that would have handed over the controversial statue known as “Silent Sam”—which once stood on the campus of UNC-Chapel Hill—as well $2.5 million to the SCV. For background on this story see my recent op-ed that I co-wrote with David Blight and W. Fitzhugh Brundage.
The Lost Cause has never looked more lost.
Just in case you missed this:
“Marine commandant banishes Confederate symbols from all Corps installations”
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/marine-corps-bans-confederate-symbols
Good to see, even though long overdue.
Thanks for adding this to the right post. Yes, I did see it.
The decision re: UNC and the SCV is made for TV. Local SCV folks here in Tennessee were just bragging in their recent newsletter how great the cash payout was and how the SCV would use it to keep up the fight. Oops….
Great piece.
It is a strange juxtaposition to watch our Federal government decay at an astonishing rate, whilst at the same time, State government rises to the occasion.
Strange times…
Ms. Bee–well put. If nothing else, states’ rights are being reexamined in a 21st century context.
Thumbs up again.