VA Gov. McDonnell Makes an Unforced Error

Powerline has the details:

Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell has declared April to be Confederate History Month in Virginia. He will thus issue a proclamation honoring soldiers who fought for the South in the Civil War.

So far, so good. McDonnell's two Democratic
predecessors refused to issue this proclamation, first given by George Allen when he was governor. But those who fought for the South were mostly honorable (and in many cases even heroic) men, even though they were on the wrong side. They deserve a proclamation.

Unfortunately, McDonnell decided to remove anti-slavery language from the proclamation. George Allen's original proclamation did not contain such language, but Gov. Jim Gilmore added it. McDonnell explained its omission from his proclamation this way:

There were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states. Obviously, it involved slavery. It involved other issues. But I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for Virginia.

This attempt to give Virginia a pass on the issue of slavery is historically untenable and, I must add, rather offensive.

Regardless of McDonnell's reasons for leaving the slavery language out of the proclamation, it was a bad decision and will not help him or the GOP in Virginia. He and the GOP will be branded as racists and this proclamation will be declared to be proof.

Fix it, Governor. Amend the language and put this behind you.

By the way, I have no problem with the idea of declaring a Confederate History Month. Right now I'm rereading the Civil War Trilogy written by Jeff and Michael Shaara, which includes "Gods and Generals", "The Killer Angels", and "The Last Full Measure". I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the Civil War and you can order it through the link on the left.

The South was fighting for a lot of things - and certainly slavery was part of it - but it wasn't the only reason that so many fought very bravely and died for the Southern cause. They were Americans and deserve the recognition for the sacrifice they made.

UPDATE: McDonnell does the right thing and adds this language to the proclamation:

WHEREAS, it is important for all Virginians to understand that the institution of slavery led to this war and was an evil and inhumane practice that deprived people of their God-given inalienable rights and all Virginians are thankful for its permanent eradication from our borders, and the study of this time period should reflect upon and learn from this painful part of our history…