Let’s not venerate people who rebelled against the nation and fought for slavery. Texas should do away with Confederate Heroes Day. Let’s not venerate people who rebelled against the nation and fought for slavery.Ashley Landis, MBR / Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO — On Thursday the Texas government recognized Confederate Heroes Day.
Yes, “Confederate Heroes Day” — in 2023. And, yes, there remains opposition to sending such cultural relics to the history books.
This archaic Texas holiday gives state employees an
optional paid day off
“in honor of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and other Confederate Heroes,” but state offices remain open.
It began in 1973, after the state
consolidated separate celebrations
of the Confederate general and president, and it has lingered 50 years too long.
On ExpressNews.com:
Editorial: A new term, but all-too familiar talking points
For the third time, state Rep. Jarvis Johnson, D-Houston, filed a bill to end the holiday that falls on Lee’s birthday and will collide with Martin Luther King Jr. Day four times over the next 20 years.
Johnson’s previous attempts to free Texas of this artifact have been unsuccessful in the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature.
“This isn’t — and shouldn’t be — a partisan issue. This is a human issue. This is a moral issue. This is not red or blue, this is right or wrong,” state
Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, the House Democratic Caucus chair said.
Opponents often respond that this is tantamount to removing history. This is a point Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick articulated in a 2020 letter to Senate Democrats about Confederate monuments: “We know the issue of slavery is painful to everyone. It was a sad chapter in our history. But we also know that most Texans do not support erasing our history by the removal of monuments and symbols.”
The issue isn’t erasure. The issue is venerating people who rebelled against the nation and fought for slavery.
Texas remains one of
only three states
in the nation with such a holiday, and that’s not a type of exceptionalism to celebrate.