In 1874 a new public holiday was declared in Georgia by Georgia legislation, dubbed 'Confederate Memorial Day.'

Within the next few decades, several other states would celebrate 'Confederate Memorial Day' as well.

In fact, Confederate Memorial Day is a state holiday in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia with celebrations on the fourth Monday in April.

In Mississippi, it's celebrated on the last Monday in April.

In South Carolina and North Carolina, it's celebrated on April 10th.

Louisiana and Tennesse celebrate on June 3rd.

Confederate Memorial Day, known as 'Confederate Heroes' Day' was established through legislation in 1973 in Texas.

Known in Texas as 'Confederate Heroes Day' it's celebrated today, on Robert E Lee's birthday, January 19th.

Controversy has continued to follow the holiday since its inception, arguably even more so today.

According to a riveting article in Texas Monthly, which you can read in its entirety here, TM offers, "Representative Jarvis Johnson—the Houston Democrat who authored the 2019 bill ( House Bill 1183) that sought to remove the holiday from the state calendar—believes the holiday is connected' to the recent protests and controversies within the United States at this time. He’s thinking about how Confederate memorials aren’t just homages to long-dead soldiers; they are ongoing incitements and insults to those the Confederacy sought to keep enslaved. “These images and words give some people the courage and even the audacity to do what they do to people of color because it emboldens them,” Johnson said. The bill never got a vote in the State Affairs Committee.

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The article continues, "State Representative James White, who represents a swath of East Texas, is one of the holiday’s few outspoken supporters. The only Black Republican in the Texas Legislature, White has defended Confederate monuments in the past, favoring legislation that would have made it illegal for municipalities to remove, relocate, or alter Confederate statues or anything of “historical significance.

New articles, like the one from the Texas Tribune, which you can read in its entirety here report that this year might be the year to finally abolish the holiday entirely.

Take Our Poll; Should Texas Abolish Confederate Heroes Day/Why or Why Not?

NEVER FORGET: Images from 9/11 and the days after

 

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