OPINION: Confederate Memorial Day Is Racist and Bad Policy: It’s Time to End It

by Senate Minority Leader Senator Derrick T. Simmons

Each year, in a handful of states, public offices close, flags are lowered, and official ceremonies mark “Confederate Memorial Day.” It is a holiday intended to honor the soldiers who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. But let me be clear: celebrating Confederate Memorial Day is not only racist—it is bad policy, bad governance, and a deep stain on the values we claim to uphold today.

First, there is no separating the Confederacy from the defense of slavery and white supremacy. The Confederacy was not about “states’ rights” in the abstract; it was about the right to own human beings. Confederate leaders themselves made that clear. Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens declared in his infamous “Cornerstone Speech” that the Confederacy was founded upon “the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man.”  No amount of revisionist history can erase the fact that the Confederacy’s cause was fundamentally rooted in preserving racial subjugation.

To honor that cause with a state holiday is to glorify a rebellion against the United States fought to defend the indefensible. It is an insult to every citizen who believes in equality and freedom—and it is a cruel slap in the face to Black Americans, whose ancestors endured the horrors of slavery and generations of systemic discrimination that followed.

Beyond its moral bankruptcy, Confederate Memorial Day is simply bad public policy. Holidays are public statements of our values. They are moments when a state, through official sanction, tells its citizens: “This is what we believe is worthy of honor.” Keeping Confederate Memorial Day on the calendar sends a message that a government once committed to denying basic human rights should be celebrated. That message is not just outdated—it is dangerous. It nurtures the roots of racism, fuels division, and legitimizes extremist ideologies that threaten our democracy today.

Moreover, there are real economic and administrative costs to shutting down government offices for this purpose. In a time when states face budget constraints, workforce shortages, and urgent civic challenges, it is absurd to prioritize paid time off to commemorate a failed and racist insurrection. Our taxpayer dollars should be used to advance justice, education, infrastructure, and economic development—not to prop up a lost cause of hate.

If we truly believe in moving forward together as one people, we must stop clinging to symbols that represent treason, brutality, and white supremacy.  There is a legislative record that supports this move in a veto-proof majority changing the state Confederate flag in 2020.  Taking Confederate Memorial Day off our official state holiday calendar is another necessary step towards a more inclusive and just society.

Mississippi had the largest population of enslaved individuals in 1865 and today has the highest percentage of Black residents in the United States.  We should not honor the Confederacy or Confederate Memorial Day.  We should replace it!  Replacing a racist holiday with one that celebrates emancipation underscores the state’s rich African American history and promotes a more inclusive understanding of its past.  It would also align the state’s observances with national efforts to commemorate the end of slavery and the ongoing pursuit of equality.  I will continue my legislative efforts to replace Confederate Memorial Day with Juneteenth as a state holiday.  

It’s time to end Confederate Memorial Day once and for all.