Bill would require paid Confederate holiday in SC

[Are_grits_groceries]

A black state senator is pushing a bill that would require South Carolina cities and counties to give their workers a paid day off for Confederate Memorial Day or lose millions in state funds.

Democratic Sen. Robert Ford's bill won initial approval from a Senate subcommittee Tuesday. It would force county and municipal governments to follow the schedule of holidays used by the state, which gives workers 12 paid days off, including May 10 to honor Confederate war dead. Mississippi and Alabama also recognize Confederate Memorial Day.

Years ago, Ford said, he pushed a bill to make both that day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day paid holidays. He considered it an effort to help people understand the history of both the civil rights movement and the Confederacy in a state where the Orders of Secession are engraved in marble in the Statehouse lobby, portraits of Confederate generals look down on legislators in their chambers and the Confederate flag flies outside.

"Every municipality and every citizen of South Carolina, should be, well, forced to respect these two days and learn what they can about those two particular parts of our history," Ford said Tuesday.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hkHBzyFPIM6BExiGjxZm0n1_KtiwD964E6FO0

I live in SC and never cease to be amazed at what passes by. Senator Ford is going to run for governor.
Bless his heart.

[meegbear]

1. Bless his heart ...

:rofl:

[Historic NY]

2. There is one "Memorial Day"....

allowing this makes it seem as if there are 2 countries. The roots of Memorial Day come from Decoration Day 1868 which honored those fallen from both sides during the Civil War.

http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html

[Are_grits_groceries]

4. And you think the people in this state who want to

honor the Confederate fallen will share a holiday with Yankees because..........????
They'd rather secede. Oh, wait.........

[BirminghamExaminer]

3. crazy stuff

I live in Alabama and only recently discovered that there is a statewide holiday for Confederate memorial day. It seems absurd. I understand why people might want to honor their ancestors who fought in the Civil war BUT and this is a great big BUT, why not just use Memorial day to do that. Memorial Day was founded by southern women for that very same purpose. So to have a confederate memorial day is just b.s.

[theHandpuppet]

5. There were nearly 5500 SC men who fought with the USCT

Why not an official holiday to honor their service and sacrifice?

[Are_grits_groceries]

6. Ask Senator Ford.

He seems to be in charge of historical holidays related to that period.

...He has some very nasty Rethugs backing this who just loooooove it. I wouldn't want share a want ad in the paper with any of them.

[katusha]

7. how about a redcoat/tories memorial day in new england?

or a soldiers of santa anna memorial day in the southwest?

[Brewman_Jax]

8. Confederate Memorial Day is an official state holiday

in Georgia, also. It's unfortunate that the South and the Confederacy occupied the same space at the same time. :(

[Terran]

9. I see nothing wrong with a state holiday to honor the dead.

As long as it's not officially honoring the Confederacy itself, it's fine. Here in Missouri, we state workers get Harry Truman's birthday off...kind of a 'go figure' situation.