Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant Declares April 'Confederate Heritage Month'

The governor of Mississippi has declared April to be “Confederate Heritage Month,” though the proclamation was curiously missing from the State of Mississippi website, reports the Jackson Free Press.

Gov. Phil Bryant's proclamation — first posted on the website of the Sons of Confederate Veterans — states that “it is important for all Americans to reflect upon our nation’s past.” And what better time? After all, April 25 “is set aside as Confederate Memorial Day to honor those who served in the Confederacy” — why not give them an entire month?

While the proclamation is carefully worded only to urge Americans to “gain insight from our mistakes and successes,” it’s unlikely the governor intends the month to be an extended meditation on slavery and its horrifying — and enduring — aftermath in the state. After all, Gov. Bryant has vocally defended Mississippi’s state flag, which features the infamous “Stars and Bars” of the Confederate battle flag.

According to the Jackson Free Press:

Mississippi, along with Arkansas and Alabama, also celebrate Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's birthday on the same day as the federal Martin Luther King Jr. birthday in January.

Ironically, a war-weary Gen. Lee said after the Civil War ended that its symbols, including flags, should be put "in your attics." That is the last thing the Sons of Confederate Veterans, or Phil Bryant for that matter, clearly intend to do.

Bryant's spokeman ... stated: "Like his predecessors -- both Republican and Democrat -- who issued similar proclamations, Gov. Bryant believes Mississippi's history deserves study and reflection, no matter how unpleasant or complicated parts of it may be," Chandler said. "Like the proclamation says, gaining insight from our mistakes and successes will help us move forward."

Gov. Bryant is free to observe other monthly commemorations commonly held in April, e.g. Jazz Appreciation Month or National Poetry Month. Instead, he is choosing to honor a separatist movement that threatened to tear apart the United States in an effort to preserve and extend slavery of black people.

But it's not just Mississippi — according to the Jackson Free Press, the Southern state is but one of several which, officially or unofficially, celebrate April as Confederate Heritage Month.

Well done?

Read the full article here.