"I am very unhappy . . . . Everybody is trying to take everything away from the Confederacy. It was a vital part of Texas during that time period. Taking away the Confederate Heroes Day is totally unacceptable."
Ah, reading further in the article, I learn why I didn't know about this: The holiday became official in 1973, and I left in Fall 1974. But there's another question: Why didn't I know about the holiday's predecessor, the day that commemorates the birthdays of Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis? It was celebrated on Jan. 19, the birthday of Lee.
State Rep. Donna Howard has proposed abolishing Confederate Heroes Day (this year it coincided with Martin Luther King Day, which is just plain weird) and substituting a spring holiday that honors the Union soldiers as well as Confederate.
Apparently Brand believes in "dibs": "We had Confederate Heroes Day before there was a Martin Luther King Jr. Day, why can't they change theirs?" she asked.
Does she not realize that MLK Day is a national holiday? Does she not realize that MLK Day is hers?
As a native Texan and half-Yankee, I'm not sure what I think. My knee-jerk reaction is to get rid of all signs of Confederateness, but that's dumb and ahistorical. So keep the monuments, and maybe put up other monuments that will cause observers to reflect on the past. But why do we/they have to celebrate the Lost Cause?
And to add another layer: Juneteenth is another Texas holiday, which commemorates when enslaved people in Texas learned that they were free. It is celebrated on June 19, and has become a worldwide observance.
The Confederate Roses will have to keep their hands off that particular day.
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