That kind of bullshit wouldn't fly with any professionals in my field I've ever met. They tend to be very cautious about how controversial subjects are treated for exactly the reason you named -- because there are loonies out there who take things like that to extremes. I have never personally met any in Virginia, though there are probably as many there as anywhere.
I'm sure there are political reasons behind the decision and however it will be interpreted -- there always are -- but at the same time, I actually think it sounds like a neat idea. Confederate history is a rather large part of the history of Virginia, as a state and as a SOUTHERN state. I can't speak for the whole state, but the part of it I'm familiar with, the places I've gone and the people who have been my professors and guest lecturers and people I've just happened to meet while working and researching... they are all VERY conscious of the potential Issues with interpreting Confederate history and any history that involves political and social issues like that. And however the Governor proposes to actually DO anything with a Confederate History Month, the folks in my field are damn well going to take the initiative to stick their noses into it and see that it's done right. Because that's our job, whether we're technically being invited to do it or not. It's... what we do.
For me and I think for just about anyone else who works in preservation, having ANYTHING historic given special recognition is a good thing. Your concerns are valid ones if what happens is that educators and entertainers and media people with no specific training in history or preservation are just sort of handed a vaguely-defined "now teach/talk about/do THIS" kind of plan... but I feel pretty confident that the people in my field who are involved in any aspect of it will absolutely do their best to not let it turn into a Hatred Soapbox. From a preservation standpoint, I would think it's more likely that historians who are involved will likely use it as an opportunity to explore and educate people about topics like African-American history (always in need of expansion), to demonstrate clearly why racial issues existed and why it was Very Wrong, and to talk about what ELSE the Confederacy stood for, because it really wasn't The War Of Slave Owners Vs. The People For Equality. That was a big issue, but an entire half of the country didn't go to WAR with the other half just because they wanted to continue to have unpaid laborers to work their plantations.
So... I think having a Confederate History Month is a great thing, because... well everyone knows more or less what the North was all about, but just like you, most people hear "Confederate" and think "slave-owning traitors booo!" I don't think that's fair and it's certainly not accurate, and since Virginia is a Southern state and has so much of its past rooted in the Confederate side of things, what it really boils down to is that the people of Virginia deserve to have that part of their history be something they can really understand from the point of view of their ancestors who MADE that history, instead of having it just be something that is oversimplified into a part of their history, of their very GENES, that they have to be ashamed of or something that perpetuates the use of Confederate symbols and butchered philosophies as banners of racism.
History ain't always pretty, but it's what makes us who we are, and something so broadly misunderstood and misused SHOULD be given focus in order to correct the misconceptions and educate people about where they REALLY come from.
tl;dr, sorry...
I'm sure there are political reasons behind the decision and however it will be interpreted -- there always are -- but at the same time, I actually think it sounds like a neat idea. Confederate history is a rather large part of the history of Virginia, as a state and as a SOUTHERN state. I can't speak for the whole state, but the part of it I'm familiar with, the places I've gone and the people who have been my professors and guest lecturers and people I've just happened to meet while working and researching... they are all VERY conscious of the potential Issues with interpreting Confederate history and any history that involves political and social issues like that. And however the Governor proposes to actually DO anything with a Confederate History Month, the folks in my field are damn well going to take the initiative to stick their noses into it and see that it's done right. Because that's our job, whether we're technically being invited to do it or not. It's... what we do.
For me and I think for just about anyone else who works in preservation, having ANYTHING historic given special recognition is a good thing. Your concerns are valid ones if what happens is that educators and entertainers and media people with no specific training in history or preservation are just sort of handed a vaguely-defined "now teach/talk about/do THIS" kind of plan... but I feel pretty confident that the people in my field who are involved in any aspect of it will absolutely do their best to not let it turn into a Hatred Soapbox. From a preservation standpoint, I would think it's more likely that historians who are involved will likely use it as an opportunity to explore and educate people about topics like African-American history (always in need of expansion), to demonstrate clearly why racial issues existed and why it was Very Wrong, and to talk about what ELSE the Confederacy stood for, because it really wasn't The War Of Slave Owners Vs. The People For Equality. That was a big issue, but an entire half of the country didn't go to WAR with the other half just because they wanted to continue to have unpaid laborers to work their plantations.
So... I think having a Confederate History Month is a great thing, because... well everyone knows more or less what the North was all about, but just like you, most people hear "Confederate" and think "slave-owning traitors booo!" I don't think that's fair and it's certainly not accurate, and since Virginia is a Southern state and has so much of its past rooted in the Confederate side of things, what it really boils down to is that the people of Virginia deserve to have that part of their history be something they can really understand from the point of view of their ancestors who MADE that history, instead of having it just be something that is oversimplified into a part of their history, of their very GENES, that they have to be ashamed of or something that perpetuates the use of Confederate symbols and butchered philosophies as banners of racism.
History ain't always pretty, but it's what makes us who we are, and something so broadly misunderstood and misused SHOULD be given focus in order to correct the misconceptions and educate people about where they REALLY come from.