Scholars stir Memorial Day controversy for Obama

May 25, 11:03 AMLA Headlines ExaminerTad Cronn

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President Obama

President Obama has denied a petition from more than 60 scholars and will be sending a wreath to the Confederate Memorial at Arlington Cemetery this Memorial Day.

The scholars, from dozens of schools including the University of California, had hoped Obama, our first black president, would end the decades-old tradition. They insist that the Confederate Memorial honors slavery and promotes racism.

The petition, organized by historian Edward Sebesta, said that the scholars opposed glorification of the Civil War and wanted to condemn the Confederacy for its links to slavery.

"The tradition legitimizes the Confederacy, so the loss of this wreath would convert this monument into a relic," Sebesta told the Dallas Morning News.

Supporters of the tradition and the monument say Sebesta and his group are oversimplifying the complex historical, social and political causes of the Civil War and failing to recognize that the Confederacy was not an attempt to destroy the country or a defense of slavery but a call for Southerners to preserve the liberty of their states.

Jane Durden of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, said, "This is a very controversial subject — we realize that. But all we ask is: I respect your views on things and I expect the same in return."

Sebesta called Obama's decision disappointing.