In several southern states, Monday was a state holiday – Confederate Memorial Day. After all the attention on our nation’s need to reckon with our history of racial injustice since the murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, it is amazing that any state continues to celebrate this “holiday.” Remembering our history is essential for continuing the journey toward justice for all people. Celebrating those who fought for the Confederacy and its commitment to slavery, perpetuates the myth of the “lost cause.” This myth minimizes the brutality and inhumanity inflicted on enslaved people while distorting the cause of the Civil War as a matter of “states rights.” The Southern Poverty Law Center put out the following statement that summarizes the reality behind the development and impact of the symbols and iconography of the Confederacy:
“Since Reconstruction, Confederate symbols have been used by white supremacists as tools of racial terror. The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans erected hundreds of memorials to the Confederacy across the United States as part of an organized propaganda campaign, created to instill fear and ensure the ongoing oppression of formerly enslaved people.”
It is a sad irony that one of the states that continues to celebrate this “holiday” is Alabama – the state that was the site of several major campaigns during the Civil Rights Movement (Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma). Those campaigns for racial justice are worth celebrating while the legacy of the Confederacy needs to be remembered and repented. The video posted below comes from a local Alabama news report earlier this week about Confederate Memorial Day. It features a white man defending the “holiday” as well as Black people sharing their feelings of dismay at its continued existence. I am grateful that Virginia, where I live, is taking a different path even though it was the capital of the Confederacy much longer than Alabama’s brief time as the capital. Monument Avenue that was known for decades for its statues of Confederate generals and leaders is now lined with empty pedestals where those statues once stood. Even the stature of Robert E. Lee, the largest on the avenue, is slated to come down later this year. This is not denying history but showing a commitment to accurately remembering and learning from our history instead of perpetuating a distorted myth. For those of us who are followers of Jesus, upholding the equality and dignity of all people is at the essence of our faith. Remembering the sins of our past is a necessary part of this commitment. Celebrating those sins is not.