The South Totally Blanks on Lincoln’s Birthday
By Dylan and Ethan Ris
Feb 12th 2009Yesterday we told you about the ways that folks across America are celebrating today’s 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. But not the South.
See, the South knew that there was something going on for February 12th … maybe a potluck at Arkansas’s place, or perhaps a Jeff Foxworthy HBO special? No, it was someone’s birthday or something … oh crap, Lincoln’s bicentennial!
So don’t plan on any big celebrations in Dixie. Of the 11 states that seceded during the Civil War, only Alabama and Louisiana have special efforts to recognize the day – and that’s not even saying much.
[I]n the states of the old Confederacy, where Rebel flags can still be found, official sponsorship of Lincoln events is somewhat restrained.
In Virginia, for example, where Richmond was the confederacy’s second capital, after Montgomery, Ala., state lawmakers voted down creation of a bicentennial commission. Among the arguments presented, lawyer Robert Lamb of Richmond, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, argued the state shouldn’t celebrate a president who "sent armies into Virginia to lay waste to our land."
And while Alabama created its own bicentennial commission … the group didn’t have any events planned for Thursday, though the separate state humanities foundation had a lecture scheduled on the Gettysburg Address.
But hey, the South is pretty busy these days. It’s only 343 days until Stonewall Jackson’s birthday, and that sucker’s not going to plan itself!
On The Web: http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2009/02/12/south-totally-blanks-on-lincolns-birthday/