WARNER WON'T ISSUE PROCLAMATION: CONFEDERATE HISTORY MONTH DESIGNATION WAS SOUGHT
March 15, 2002
By MICHAEL HARDY - mhardy@timesdispatch.com
Richmond Times-Dispatch Staff Writer©2002 Richmond Times-Dispatch
Gov. Mark R. Warner formally refused yesterday to issue a proclamation declaring April Confederate history month.
However, representatives of Southern heritage groups still thanked him for his forthrightness and openness to continued dialogue.
Warner, who met with the representatives for 45 minutes in the State Capitol, made good on his campaign promise. Issuing the proclamation would be divisive and reopen old wounds festering from the Civil War, he said.
"Over the past few years, the issuance of a Confederate history month proclamation has been a lightning rod," Warner said in a written statement. "My belief is that signing such a proclamation would not advance the healing process."
Referring to the shared history and heritage of all Virginians, Warner emphasized that "it is the right of every Virginian to celebrate our history."
"I know all Virginians of good faith, regardless of race, want to move forward with mutual respect. I look forward to continuing a dialogue with all Virginians about our shared history and future," the governor said.
After their meeting, spokesmen and supporters of Confederate history and heritage groups said they were disappointed. But they welcomed the opportunity to reach out to all Virginians, free of the racists who, they said, have expropriated their symbols and history to foster hate.
They appreciated Warner's promise to meet with them again and said - proclamation or not - they would commemorate Confederate history and heritage next month.
"We have taken a giant step forward," said Henry Kidd, state commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. "It was a very positive meeting....
"We have denounced racist [organizations] who have stolen our symbols," said Kidd, adding that Warner sympathized with their commitment to honoring the sacrifices made during the Civil War.
Ben Jones, the former Georgia congressman who is opposing U.S. Rep. Eric I. Cantor, R-7th, in the fall campaign, said Warner and the groups have "an honest disagreement." Jones appeared at the news conference with the heritage groups.
Despite the disagreement between Warner and the groups over the proclamation, it gives the state and Virginians a golden opportunity to foster historical and racial harmony, Jones said.
"We need to bring Virginians together," Jones said. "It's an opportunity to show the South and the nation how to lead on this."
Jones played Cooter on the popular "Dukes of Hazzard" television show.
A black minister, who described himself as "a supportive ally" of the groups, said he was pleased with Warner's actions.
"The stigma of hatred needs to be removed," said Rev. Wilson E.B. Shannon, pastor of First Baptist Church in Chesterfield County. It's the 21st century, he said, and time for the races to live in understanding and brotherhood and sisterhood.
The history and sacrifices of the Civil War have " a lot to offer" blacks and whites, he said.
"Today, we have opened the dialogue," said Fred Taylor, president of the Heritage Preservation Association of Virginia. "We are not where we want to be."
The representatives underscored the need for multicultural and biracial healing.
King Salim Khalfani, executive director of the state chapter of the NAACP, expected Warner's decision. "We took him at this word while he was on the campaign. Proclamation [refusal] was one of our litmus tests," he said.
Yesterday's meeting with the governor and its aftermath represented a dramatic turnaround in the sometimes raucous 6-year- old debate over issuance of the proclamation.
Govs. George Allen and Jim Gilmore, both Republicans, faced harsh criticism from civil-rights advocates for even honoring the sacrifices made in the Civil War. Warner is a Democrat.
Gilmore, who had recognized the abomination of slavery and the suffering of both Northerners and Southerners, blacks and whites, averted a threatened tourism boycott of Virginia by civil rights groups.
Last year, he renamed the proclamation and issued a document that won the backing of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, but provoked cries of betrayal from Confederate groups.
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