If The Flag Was Removed, Why Is The Holiday Celebrated

Rickey Stokes

Viewed: 9117

Posted by: RStokes
Date: Apr 21 2016 11:03 AM

ALABAMA:    Moments ago Matt came into my office and said the Houston County Commission Meeting would be Tuesday, that Monday was a county and state holiday. I asked him what holiday and he said “ Confederate Memorial Day”

I thought for a minute. Then I asked, I thought we took the Confederate Flag down and decided, as per Alabama Governor Robert ( Mason ) Bentley we were not going to acknowledge that.

Below are definitions as per google.

I truly do not know the answer. If the flag was taken down that represented the event, then why in the world has state and county leaders left the day as a holiday for state and county workers to be paid but not work.

So, my question to think about:   what is the holiday that federal, state and county employees get off for? If the flag was the bad symbol, then what does the holiday symbol?

I give up!

 

CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL DAY DEFINITION PER GOOGLE

Between 1861 and 1865, there was a war between the Union and the Confederate States of America. As slavery disappeared from the northern states, but remained viable in the south, two very different ways of life arose in these sections, according to the US Department of the Interior’s National Park Service. Compromises regarding slavery, especially its extension to the new western territories, became more difficult to achieve. Social, political and economic power was at stake for both the north and the south.

The divisions began in 1860 when Abraham Lincoln, who opposed the expansion of slavery, was elected as president of the United States. Seven states in the south declared their secession from the United States before he took office. Southern states maintained various concerns regarding political ideals, property and homes, protection for their families, and economic loss.

The actual war started on April 12, 1861, at Fort Sumter in South Carolina. The last cease-fire was signed at Fort Towson, Oklahoma, on June 23, 1865, although the naval forces on the CSS Shenandoah did not surrender until November 4, 1865 in Liverpool, Great Britain. It is estimated that more than 600,000 soldiers died during the American Civil War and that about 260,000 of these were Confederates. In addition, an unknown number of civilians died in the hostilities.

Those who died fighting for the Confederate States during the American Civil War are remembered on other dates in some states. In Arkansas and Texas, there are joint celebrations of the birthdays of Robert E. Lee (a general in the Confederate army) and Martin Luther King on the third Monday in January. In Texas, this is sometimes known as Confederate Heroes Day. In Kentucky, Louisiana and Tennessee, the birthday of Jefferson Davis (the only President of the Confederate States of America) on June 3, 1808, is observed.

In North and South Carolina, May 10 marks the anniversaries of the death of Thomas Jonathan 'Stonewall' Jackson (a general in the Confederate army) in 1863 and the capture of Jefferson Davis in 1865. In Pennsylvania, the organization known as the Sons of Confederate Veterans commemorates those who died while fighting for the Confederates.  In Virginia, the lives of Confederate soldiers are honored on Memorial Day on the last Monday in May. Confederate Memorial Day was first observed in a number of areas in or just after 1866.

 

CONFEDERATE FLAG PER GOOGLE

However the Confederate flag(s) are all relics from a time when Southern States seceded and started a war that killed thousands of people. The war was over slavery. And we can't remove the history of slavery and institutional racism from that flag. After all it was a battle flag used by the side who fought for slavery.

GEORGIA WHEN CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL DAY IS GOOGLED

Confederate Memorial Day has been struck from Georgia’s official 2016 state holiday calendar. So has Robert E. Lee’s birthday.

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