Black Mayor Declares April Confederate History Month
There are a number of ways to interpret this photograph of Mayor Curtis Hayes— accompanied by members of the local SCV camp—signing a proclamation declaring April Confederate History Month in Livingston, Tennessee.
I can’t speak to what motivated the mayor to sign the proclamation or Livingston’s local politics. In many places the signing is considered routine and doesn’t mean much of anything beyond the photograph and signature on a piece of paper.
What makes this photograph interesting is the racial dynamic. It stands in sharp contrast with a city like Richmond, Virginia, where its Black mayor took the lead in removing the city’s Confederate monuments.
Of course, Livingston is not Richmond, but its history is just as complicated. Recognizing Confederate History Month in Middle Tennessee does little to acknowledge its complex Civil War past—a region of the state that was divided over secession and which sent men to both armies during the war.
Perhaps Confederate History Month will include a discussion of the burning of the Overton County Courthouse by Confederate guerillas in 1865.
Regardless of how you interpret this photograph, what stands out to me is that it is a Black elected official who holds the pen. It’s a reminder that whatever else you commemorate in the month of April around Confederate History/Heritage Month…
…the Confederacy lost.
Heartbreaking. I have many, many questions.
Let’s not celebrate a black mayor’s membership into the confederate sons. Rather we all have read reliable sources of randy white southern men who fathered lmany many children of black mothers. No wonder we come in all shades.
Kathleen