Confederacy

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RFK Jr. Has Some Thoughts on Confederate Statues

Says he has 'visceral reaction' to their removal: 'Values change throughout history'

(Newser) - The destruction of a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Confederate monument at the center of the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally, led to cheers from some and boos from others. Now, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is weighing in on how he felt when the...

School Board Votes to Bring Back Confederate Names

Decision by Virginia's Shenandoah County school board came despite pushback

(Newser) - A Virginia school board has become the first in the country to restore school names honoring Confederate generals shortly after removing them. The school board in Shenandoah County, Virginia, on Friday approved a proposal to rename Mountain View High School to Stonewall Jackson High School and Honey Run Elementary School...

West Point to Yank Robert E. Lee
West Point to
Yank Robert E. Lee
Dec 25, 2022 8:45 AM CST

West Point to Yank Robert E. Lee

Portrait, bust will quietly be put in storage

(Newser) - Robert E. Lee was a noted West Point alumnus and served as its superintendent before he commanded the Confederate army during the Civil War, but his alma mater is using the current holiday break to scrub itself of his presence. As the Hill reports, the United States Military Academy is...

Faculty Pic With Pa. Governor Hopeful Raises Eyebrows

Doug Mastriano posed in Confederate uniform in 2013-14 Army War College photo

(Newser) - Doug Mastriano, a far-right GOP candidate for Pennsylvania governor who's been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has already raised eyebrows with his appearance outside the US Capitol on Jan. 6 and the various conspiracy theories he promotes, including that widespread fraud tipped the 2020 election in Joe Biden'...

California City Keeps Name of Confederate General

Fort Bragg officials debated for a year

(Newser) - After George Floyd’s murder in 2020, a commission of citizens of Fort Bragg, Calif., examined whether they should change the name of the city named after a Confederate general. That won't be happening, for now at least, the Guardian reports. The city of 7,000 was named after...

Dixie State University Gets a Controversial Name Change

Utah Legislature votes for change to Utah Tech University

(Newser) - Update: Dixie State University will likely soon be called Utah Tech University. The Republican-controlled state legislature in Utah voted to change the name Wednesday, despite local outcry from those who insisted the regional importance of the word "Dixie" is separate from the word's association with slavery, the AP...

Pressure Builds for Answers on Confederate Carving

Two sides' positions seem set in stone as decisions on new exhibit near

(Newser) - Crowds are growing larger at the monthly meetings of the Georgia board considering what to do about the giant carving of Confederacy leaders in Stone Mountain. But officials seem no closer to an answer. The Stone Mountain Memorial Association decided to make a few changes last month, but they weren'...

Home of Largest Confederate Monument Is Making Changes

Stone Mountain is adding exhibit that will acknowledge site's links to KKK

(Newser) - The Stone Mountain Memorial Association board has voted to make some changes at Stone Mountain Park—though none of them involve getting rid of the country's largest Confederate monument . The resolutions approved Monday include a new "warts and all" museum exhibit that will look at the carving's...

GOP Governor Nixes 'Relic of the Confederacy'

Larry Hogan approves repeal of Maryland's Civil War-era state song, which refers to 'Northern scum'

(Newser) - Since 1939, "Maryland, My Maryland" has served as Maryland's state song, but its 82-year-old reign has just come to an end. On Tuesday, Gov. Larry Hogan OKed a repeal of the Civil War-era tune after a longtime bipartisan effort to nix it over its controversial lyrics—including referring...

Group: Hang Our Banner, or Monument Becomes a Toilet

White Lies Matter makes a demand of the United Daughters of the Confederacy

(Newser) - "We took their toy, and we don't feel guilty about it." So reads an email sent to AL.com from a group calling itself White Lies Matter. The "toy" they claim to have taken is the Jefferson Davis Memorial Chair, a 3-foot-tall stone monument worth $500,...

Lawmakers Vote to Drop State Song Urging Secession

Written in 1861, the lyrics praise Confederacy and rip Lincoln

(Newser) - There's no law against singing about "Northern scum," but Maryland legislators have decided they don't want the lyrics in their state song anymore. A measure to remove the official designation from "Maryland, My Maryland" passed Monday. It's been the state song since 1939, though...

Senator Puts Trump on Speakerphone in Busy Restaurant

'We're going to keep the name of Robert E. Lee?' president asked Inhofe

(Newser) - When Sen. James Inhofe took a call from President Trump at a restaurant in Washington, DC, on Wednesday night, the 85-year-old put the president on speakerphone so he could hear him better. But other diners at the Trattoria Alberto could hear the president as well—and one of them supplied...

House Passes Defense Bill Trump Promised to Veto

It calls for renaming of military bases that honor Confederate officers

(Newser) - A $740 billion defense policy bill that President Trump threatened to veto has passed the House with a veto-proof 295-125 majority, with 108 Republicans voting in favor of the 2021 Defense Authorization Act and 43 Democrats voting against. The bill calls for military bases and other properties named after Confederate...

America Asks: What About Stone Mountain?

This Confederate carving is 190 feet across and 90 feet tall

(Newser) - Some statues of figures from America's slave-owning past have been yanked down by protesters, others dismantled by order of governors or city leaders. But the largest Confederate monument ever crafted—colossal figures carved into the solid rock of a Georgia mountainside—may outlast them all, the AP reports. Stone...

Former Confederate Capital Orders Removal of Monuments

Stonewall Jackson was the first to go

(Newser) - Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney has taken down Stonewall Jackson. The towering statue of the Confederate general was removed from Monument Avenue on Wednesday, hours after the Virginia city's Democratic mayor invoked emergency powers to order the immediate removal of all Confederate statues on city land, CNN reports. Stoney said...

Trump Doubles Down on Base Renaming With New Threat

'I will Veto' $740B annual defense bill if Elizabeth Warren-proposed amendment is included

(Newser) - An amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act regarding the renaming of US military bases paying tribute to Confederate leaders has already been approved in a voice vote by the Senate's Armed Services Committee. But President Trump has just made clear he doesn't intend to let it get...

What You Won't See Anymore in Walmarts in This State

Miss. state flag, which bears Confederate symbol, will no longer be flown in retailer's stores there

(Newser) - The NCAA has already warned Mississippi that it may be losing out on championship games if it doesn't change its state flag, the only one left in the US to still bear the Confederate symbol of a blue cross with 13 stars. Now, the biggest retailer in the country...

Pelosi Removes Portraits of 4 Predecessors

They were Confederates

(Newser) - "There is no room in the hallowed halls of Congress or in any place of honor for memorializing men who embody the violent bigotry and grotesque racism of the Confederacy," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote. With that letter to Cheryl Johnson, House clerk, workers Thursday began removing from...

The AP Is Sorry About Its 'Thought for Today'

Wire service says it was appalled once it realized it had shared Jefferson Davis line

(Newser) - The AP ended up with egg on its face earlier this month thanks to an ill-chosen quote. The New York Times reports the wire service each day pushes out a feature called "Today in History," which rounds up events that happened on that day in history and recounts...

One Idea: Replace Confederate Statues With Britney Spears

Online petition calls singer 'an inspiration to millions'

(Newser) - A few of the Confederate statues and memorials in Louisiana have been removed in the past few years, but more than 30 are still standing. A petition circulating on Change.org makes a suggestion: Replace the Confederates with statues of "an actual Louisiana hero and influential human being, Britney...

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