Lessons from Virginia's shift on Confederate history
Several months after issuing a proclamation about “Confederate History Month” in Virginia without mentioning slavery’s role in the Civil War, the state’s governor, Robert F. McDonnell (R), has decided to call it “Civil War in Virginia Month” instead. Better late than never, as is often said, though the lateness raises questions about how well the governor and his advisers understand American history, not to mention modern politics. It also underscores the different way the war is taught to students in different states. Here’s what’s happened, according to my colleague Rosalind S. Helderman: McDonnell today announced he was changing the name of the history month and apologized for issuing the proclamation last April without mentioning slavery. He said, at a conference about slavery hosted as part of the state’s commemoration of the 150th anniversay of the Civil War, that the earlier action was an “error of haste, not heart.”