Confederate history month proposal clears Senate panel

By SONJI JACOBS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 03/15/07

A bill that would permanently establish April as Confederate History and Heritage month in Georgia sailed through a Senate committee on Thursday without any opposition.

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• Background on the issue

Sen. Jeff Mullis (R-Chickamauga), the sponsor of Senate Bill 283, told the Senate Rules Committee that the proposal would help promote tourism in the state and preserve an important part of the state and nation's history.

"I'm not doing this for controversial reasons, but to commemorate a struggle that happened," said Mullis, whose hometown was the site of a major Civil War battle in 1863.

Mullis said he has been working on the bill for several months — long before some black lawmakers and the state NAACP last week called on the Legislature and Gov. Sonny Perdue to apologize for the state's role in slavery.

The request for an apology, so far, has received a cool reception by the state's Republican leadership. Rep. Al Williams (D-Midway) has said he plans to file a resolution on Monday that would call on the state to recognize slavery and work toward reconciliation.

Francys Johnson, the NAACP's southeast region director, said the organization is "vehemently opposed" to Mullis' bill and finds it "hypocritical."

"At the same time that the proponents of this bill want to deny any responsibility for state-sanctioned and -sponsored slavery from 1755 to the end of the Civil War, they still feel the responsibility to honor the treasonous conduct of the Confederacy. It doesn't seem like you can have it both ways. You can't honor the past and not take responsibility for it."

Senate Bill 283, if approved by the Senate and the House, would encourage Georgians each April to honor the Confederacy, its history, soldiers and the people who "contributed to the cause of Southern Independence."

The bill also encourages the Georgia Civil War Commission to develop a curriculum to teach Georgia's Confederate history in elementary and high schools, as well as colleges and universities