Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) is headquartered in Richmond

Stop Taxpayer Funding of Racism

I used to not think much about the Daughters of the Confederacy. My thoughts went along these lines:

“Well, I don’t like it; it’s a bit stomach-turning; and I don't like having to walk my dog past them...or The Virginia Flaggers. I feel a sinking of the heart when I see the building....

...but maybe they’re just harmless little old ladies who put flowers on graves, play canasta, and that’s about it.

Maybe they hold debutante balls....?”

And then I learned more...

First of all, it’s important to understand that your tax dollars support this group. So we have an absolute right to know exactly what goes on and whether or not ALL of their activities are in line with contemporary, anti-racist values.

...Virginia, where the UDC is headquartered, “awards the state [division of the] UDC tens of thousands of dollars for the maintenance of Confederate graves — more than $1.6 million since 1996.

Yet, by digging just a little bit, and on the advice of my nephew, I learned:

"The organization keeps Confederate statues standing and spreads lies about America’s history of slavery."  [salon.com]

and

“....a shameful number of Americans don’t think slavery was the primary cause of the Civil War—even though the seceding states literally spelled this out in document form — in part because of the UDC’s campaign of misinformation.”

The UDC’s “heritage” activities are 

a sham, a cover

for their harmful, racist agenda:

Virginians - your tax dollars supports this white supremacist group. It is well past time to tell the truth about slavery - the sex trafficking, the horror, the family separations, the torture, and generational trauma inflicted; it is time to address the fallout from Jim Crow-era violence, policies, and propaganda that still harms Black Americans today.

It is time to remove the UDC from Richmond.

~~~

Ten resources for learning more about the UDC :

 

1. https://hqudc.org/

2. 7 things the United Daughters of the Confederacy might not want you to know about them

3. End The Confederacy

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Daughters_of_the_Confederacy

5. https://www.amazon.com/Sisters-Hate-Women-Front-Nationalism/dp/0316487775

6. https://www.scarymommy.com/daughters-of-the-confederacy-racism/

7. The racial reckoning with Confederate monuments seems new. But it dates back more than a century. - The Virginian-Pilot - The Virginian-Pilot (pilotonline.com)

8. As Confederate Statues Fall, the Group Behind Most of Them Stays Quiet

9. ‘The lost cause’: the women’s group fighting for Confederate monuments

“There is no Silent Sam without black blood, without violence towards black people,” Little said recently as she sat in the statue’s shadow, campus security guards hovering behind nearby trees and columns. “I would say all that blood is on their hands. And it will continue to be until they take a stand – until they ... make an effort to take these monuments down and to be a part of actual racial equality, racial justice.”

10. Time to Expose the Women Still Celebrating the Confederacy (thedailybeast.com)

... “Basically, they're white supremacists hiding in plain sight. "

Earlier this year (2018), angry parents in Texas complained after discovering their kids had were being taught history from a textbook that goes out of its way to declare some enslavers “kind and generous owners,” among other offensive tidbits.  

11. United Daughters of the Confederacy & White Supremacy | Encyclopedia Virginia, The Blog (virginiahumanities.org)

12 (2018) - Women's Group Behind Rebel Memorials Quietly Battles On | North Carolina News | US News