Obama will observe Confederate Memorial tradition despite petition

Good for President Obama. :thumbs:


Obama will observe Confederate Memorial tradition despite petition

By Marjorie Korn
The Dallas Morning News

Published: Saturday, May 23, 2009 8:29 p.m. MDT

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama will send a wreath to the Confederate Memorial at Arlington Cemetery on Memorial Day, rebuffing a petition from academics urging him to cease the decades-old tradition.

The petition, organized by Dallas-based historian Edward Sebesta, says signers want to end the glorification of the Civil War and recognize the Confederacy's links to slavery.

"(The tradition) legitimizes the Confederacy, so the loss of this wreath would convert this monument into a relic," Sebesta said.

Arlington National Cemetery confirmed Saturday that the Obama administration will send a wreath to the Confederate Memorial, among other monuments at the national burial ground, a tradition set by President Woodrow Wilson and continued by presidents since.

- more at www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705306170,00.html