Confederate History Month

-Mara Gay

For nearly a decade, Virginia has quietly declined to mark its secession from the union. But on Tuesday -- days before the 150th anniversary of the outbreak of the Civil War -- Gov. Bob McDonnell declared April as Confederate History Month in Virginia for the first time since 2001.

The Proclamation, written in formal tones and posted on the Republican governor's Web site, declares Confederate history something "all Virginians can appreciate," but critics noted it fails to mention slavery.

"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, and to recognize how our history has led to our present," the proclamation says.

I know the argument. The Civil War wasn't about slavery. Confederates weren't just slave owners, they were people. They didn't all believe slavery was right... but most did .

It's bad enough that South Carolina is still flying the confederate flag on their capital building but now this. What were you thinking McDonnell? Did you know the President is a black guy? He might not be down with this.

Typically when you disrespect, degrade, oppress and enslave an entire race it's probably a good idea to not bring that up very often, let alone remembering it for an entire month. And, Virginia, when you talk about the confederacy (believe it or not) you're bringing these things up.

Oh wait, I forgot, you have conveniently left that part out of your history. Confederates are a lot better when you leave out the whole slavery thing. I mean it's like Hitler and the Nazis. All they did was promote nationalism and help a nation grow to it's greatest potential... if you forget about the holocaust that is.