Can history of Confederacy be told without mention of slavery?
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” – George Santayana (1863-1952) — Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell is backtracking about as fast as he can as he tries to explain why his proclamation of Confederate History Month failed to mention slavery. The governor has since amended the proclamation; however, the outrage continues. Some, pointing to the fervor over the Obama administration’s health-care legislation, have called the proclamation a purely political stunt, akin to passing laws asserting states’ rights or filing legal challenges to the health-care law in an effort to show defiance to the federal government. Without a doubt, there is a political motivation behind the proclamation. (These are politicians, after all.) But I assert there is something else at play here; a romantic rewriting of history where gone with the facts meets Gone with the Wind. Virginia is one of seven states that has celebrated or currently celebrates Confederate History Month (Texas, Geo
