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Mississippi Goddam

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Nina Simone's classic song comes to mind when I think of these recent events,

JACKSON, Miss. – Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour drew criticism for proclaiming April as Confederate Heritage Month without mentioning slavery, the second governor this month to come under fire for the omission.

Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, who is black, said Monday that people need to learn about the "abhorrent, violent, depraved actions of slavery."

Virginia's Republican governor, Bob McDonnell, also named April as Confederate History Month but his original proclamation didn't mention slavery. After coming under national criticism, McDonnell last week revised it to denounce slavery as "evil and inhumane."

Barbour, also a Republican who helped campaign for McDonnell last year, said Sunday on CNN that slavery was bad but a fuss over McDonnell's original proclamation "doesn't amount to diddly."

Pardon my language, but what the fuck are these two governors trying to say?

Comments

  1. JAbelApril 13, 2010 at 9:24 AM

    The past Sunday NYTimes had a nice op-ed piece on this relating to the south and the Virginny Gov.

    ReplyDelete
  2. James FergusonApril 13, 2010 at 12:37 PM

    This one, bo,

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/opinion/08collins.html

    I think Gail Collins did an excellent job of summing up the event.

    ReplyDelete
  3. RickApril 13, 2010 at 1:44 PM

    Let's see, Black History month is celebrated in February. If March was made Confederate History Month, the timing would look a tad suspicious. So they schedule it for April. Tourism? Uh huh . . .

    ReplyDelete
  4. James FergusonApril 13, 2010 at 2:49 PM

    Well, you know, there are all this Civil War battlefield sites and April is when the Civil War started and ended, so it just seems the right thing to do ; )

    ReplyDelete
  5. James FergusonApril 13, 2010 at 2:50 PM

    The most appalling aspect is this apparent attempt to tie the Civil War and Tea Party movement together,

    “The War Between the States was fought for the same reasons that the tea party movement today is voicing their opinion. And that is that you have large government that’s not listening to the people, there’s going to be heavy taxation ...”

    The Rev. Cecil Fayard, chaplain in chief for The National Sons of Confederate Veterans

    http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20100412/NEWS/100412025/Barbour%20criticized%20for%20Confederate%20proclamation

    ReplyDelete
  6. avrdsApril 13, 2010 at 4:35 PM

    And this has what to do with the fact that we have a dark-skinned President? Nothing? Really?

    ReplyDelete
  7. James FergusonApril 13, 2010 at 4:36 PM

    Of course not. How dare you imply it ; )

    ReplyDelete
  8. avrdsApril 13, 2010 at 4:46 PM

    All I can say is where were they when we needed them protesting the invasion and occupation of Iraq? All that deficit spending -- in fact, it wasn't even on the books -- didn't seem to bother them at all.

    It's a very weird country we live in. I'm genuinely shocked by what some of these people believe. I'm still hopeful that Obama can pull enough rabbits out of the hat before 2012, but if not this country is in for some major mischief. I think the insurance mandate may be the trigger actually.

    I hate to think about moving at this late stage of life, but it may be time to start at least considering where to go. Canada's not that far away (and it's snowing here now so I can endure just about any weather....)

    ReplyDelete
  9. avrdsApril 13, 2010 at 4:54 PM

    What a song!

    ReplyDelete
  10. James FergusonApril 13, 2010 at 7:38 PM

    It is indeed. Nina Simone didn't pull any punches.

    At this point, I think the greatest appeal to the Tea Party is that it allows people to vent their anger while claiming a certain degree of "independence." Of course, it is a complete sham and the Republicans are the ones benefiting the most from this anger at the moment. However, the bigger tea leaves (for lack of any other term) claim no politician is safe in the upcoming elections. Whatever that means?

    I think these teabaggers might have had some Libertarian ideal in mind in the beginning but their movement has taken on a right wing racist flavor that I think will leave a sour taste in just about everyone's mouth come November.

    ReplyDelete
  11. James FergusonApril 13, 2010 at 7:41 PM

    I compiled this mini-retrospective of movies and television programs in response to Confederate Heritage Month,

    http://www.theauteurs.com/lists/7438

    ReplyDelete
  12. TripplerApril 13, 2010 at 8:27 PM

    Very fascinating retrospective. As for all those instances of Southern rebellion - NONE DARE CALL IT TREASON!

    ReplyDelete
  13. avrdsApril 14, 2010 at 12:42 AM

    Thanks, Gintaras.

    Great list although I'm not sure I could sit through many of them anymore. Too depressing.

    Re Wilson, he is featured in the revised version of Birth of a Nation, talking to Griffith about how the movie really does represent how it used to be in the South. Scary.

    ReplyDelete
  14. JAbelApril 14, 2010 at 2:29 AM

    Well actually the op-ed piece I saw was"Southern Discomfort" by Jon Meacham,Newsweek editor and author of American Lion. but the one you linked by Gail Collins was excellent.

    ReplyDelete

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