Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell just opened up another wound in our country's abysmal racist history with his decision to name April Confederate History Month in Virginia--and to do so without mentioning slavery as the cause of the Civil War--or even at all. And only acknowledging the role of slavery two days later after intense uproar from Virginians and people alike across the country.
It is the height of white male privilege for politicians like McDonnell or Georgia's Governor Sonny Purdue to use symbols of the Civil War, slavery, the Confederacy, and racism without regard to how painful that is for so many of our people--not just African-Americans.