Black Tennessee Mayor Declared April Confederate History Month

Hayes is not the first government official to recognize April as Confederate History Month, HuffPost reports.

Other municipalities have joined in to honor the month. As Blavity previously reported, Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves recognized April as Confederate Heritage Month as well.

The Mississippi governor also declared that “there is not systemic racism” in the country.

In contrast, some states and cities have decided to remove Confederate flags and statues memorializing Confederate military leaders, Mediaite reports. 

In Louisiana, officials voted to remove a 102-year-old Confederate monument from a local courthouse, KSLA reports. Critics said the monument was initially erected during the Jim Crow period, when Black people were subjected to intimidation and discrimination.

In the early 1860s, the Confederate states wanted to secede from the United States to protect the system of slavery and maintain white supremacy, according to The Washington Post.