Rebels Protest at Dorchester County South Carolina School Board Meeting

Once again the Charleston Post and Courier has made an attempt to stir the pot and build on readership by printing a story about the Confederate Holiday Getting Another Look and the dozen nut cases who are upset that it is not a more formal holiday with county schools and government offices closed.

Confederate Memorial Day, May 10th has been a state holiday for 140 some years, it coincides with Stonewall Jackson's death and the capture of Jefferson Davis by Union Forces.

So it is not a new holiday unless you have moved to the south recently. As I pointed out back in February with Confederate Memorial Day Surprises Newcomers to the South and it has always been May 10th and so what of a minor holiday.

But as far as closing schools and making it a paid holiday for state employees well, my granddaddy and his father before him would would take to the pulpit and swear the Lord was about to deliver swift vengeance, and condemn the sloth in all of us.



In the generations before all this politically correct extremism swept the country there was only one day off a week and that was Sunday. It wasn't a paid holiday but it was always a day filled with riches and a day for remembrance.

But the modern argument is that we have the Dr. King Holiday which is a paid holiday and therefore a Confederate holiday is only fair.

I think most people who move to the south enjoy our regional oddity and unusualness.

We have Ramp, Gulla, Watermelon and Shag festivals and a host of other days, weeks and months that mark our Southern history and culture.

But nothing seems to get Yankee transplants worked up more than the word "Confederate", which they seem to equate to flags, belt buckles, beer, hunting and plain old back woods people, and of course Larry and Cable Guy.

And Southerns always seemed to feel threatened by anything that smacks of Northern Aggression and with good reason, for throughout the history of our country the south has been awash with cash from "up north" and these tides of cash have slowly eroded our culture and southern roots.

But if we really want to honor those who fought for the cause, remember our genteel ways and southern charm we need to honor our heritage of hard work and remember the only day of rest they ever needed was Sunday.