Confederate History Month

As I was meandering about npr's website I stumbled upon a juicy blog topic. It goes

Virginia Gov.: 'Confederate History Month' Is 'Something That Should Be Done'

Bob McDonnell, Virginia's current republican governor, recently made the month of April confederate history month, a motion denied by the two liberal governors preceding him. McDonnell says that his aim is to draw attention to a significant part of Virginia's history and consequentially attract visitors to Virginia's many historical Civil War sites. It's no shock that McDonnell's decision has offended people. King Salim Khalfani, executive director of the Virginia State Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said that McDonnell is "extolling the Confederacy by naming this Confederate History Month". I'm split about 85-15 on the issue. For the most part I think that declaring April confederate history month was a bad decision. I've read some blogs on the issue and have seen alot advocates for the change argue that the confederacy fought for many things in the Civil War, slavery being only one them. But really, whenever the average joe hears "confederacy" the first thing that comes to mind is slavery. Therefore, when people hear that April is confederate history they will probably make the same connection. I do, however, think the desicion could have some positive outcomes. It's a stretch, but I think that declaring April confederate history month might instill some guilt in the people of Virginia for have such a strong tie to the confederacy. The guilt could motivate the state to improve any negative race relations it has seen recently. Also, like the Governor I think that this change could promote Virginia's many historic Civil War sites. While I think it was an unwise decision to declare April confederate history month, there is no denying that the Civil War is a key portion of our nation's history and it is important that the public learns about it. So my noble classmates, what do you think? Yes or no on making April confederate history month and perhaps a brief explanation of why.

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