Top McDonnell Backer Sheila Johnson Blasts Confederate History Month
Sheila Johnson, the wealthy co-founder of Black Entertainment Television, a Democrat whose endorsement of Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell burnished his credentials as a “moderate,” releases a statement tearing into McDonnell’s decision to reinstate Confederate History Month:
“I must condemn Governor McDonnell’s Proclamation honoring ‘Confederate History Month,’ and its insensitive disregard of Virginia’s complicated and painful history, the remnants of which many Virginians still wrestle with today.“The complete omission of slavery from an official government document, which purports to be a call for Virginians to ‘understand’ and ’study’ their history, is both academically flawed and personally offensive. If Virginians are to celebrate their ’shared history,’ as this proclamation suggests, then the whole truth of this history must be recognized and not evaded.”
As Ben Smith notes, the last thing Republicans want to be talking about right now is anything that suggests the GOP is a “regional, cultural party,” and this, coming from a wealthy African American supporter with a high media profile, is exactly the sort of ingredient to ensure that this conversation continues.
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