Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has declared April to be “Confederate Heritage Month.”
According to the Jackson Free Press, Bryant explained that the month of April was chosen because it “is the month in which the Confederate States began and ended a four-year struggle” and also pointed to the celebration of Confederate Memorial Day on April 25 to “recognize those who served in the Confederacy.”
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The proclamation also states that it is “important for all Americans to reflect upon our nation’s past” and “to gain insight from our mistakes and successes,” and that we must “earnestly strive to understand and appreciate our heritage and our opportunities which lie before us.”
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The proclamation has not appeared on the website for the state of Mississippi but can be seen on the website of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a group dedicated to preventing the Confederate flag symbol from being removed from the Mississippi flag as well as to publishing revisionist history of the Civil War and the Confederacy.
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Governor Bryant has not taken up a position on the flag controversy but has said that it should be left up to voters, who in 2001 voted, largely along racial lines, to keep the old flag as-is.