Confederate groups furious as Virginia kills their tax breaks

On Tuesday —161 years after the conclusion of the American Civil War — the state of Virginia ended long-standing tax exemptions for a range of organizations linked to the Confederacy. Signed by Democrat Gov. Abigail Spanberger and passed by the Democrat-controlled state legislature, the bill ending financial benefits represented a victory in the hard-fought effort for the state to rid itself of its legacy as the Confederate capital.

While the action will stop tax exemptions for a number of groups, the largest is the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which was created in 1894 with the stated intention of honoring its members’ ancestors. Over the course of its existence, the organization has erected hundreds of Confederate memorials across the U.S. to promote the “Lost Cause” narrative, which critics have argued was an intentional effort to romanticize the Confederacy and maintain a pro-slavery presence across the country. These statues and monuments have become targets for social justice efforts in recent years, with many being burned or torn down.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy has yet to respond following the bill’s signing, but as the matter was being debated in February, organization president Julie Hardaway said the bill “reeks of discrimination” and is “based on misguided and biased opinions.”

State General Assembly delegate Alex Askew, who sponsored the bill, disagreed, saying, “Let’s be very clear about what we’re dealing with. Organizations like the United Daughters of the Confederacy have promoted the Lost Cause. Why is the commonwealth supporting groups that rewrite history to obscure the true cause of the Civil War? A war fought to uphold the institution of slavery, America’s original sin?”

The bill isn’t the only current Virginia legislation that aims to cut ties from the state’s Confederate past.

One signed last week ends the issuance of specialty license plates that feature Confederate General Robert E. Lee and the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Sons of Confederate Veterans spokesman Frank Earnest asserted that the discontinuation of the Lee plate was a “terrible” attack on free speech, saying, “I could go down to the D.M.V. right now and point out some fact about every plate there that I didn’t like. So if we’re going to cancel every plate because somebody out there doesn’t like it, we might as well just cancel the whole program.”

Another bill — which Spanberger has sent back to the state legislature with recommendations — would create a task force at the Virginia Military Institute tasked with distancing the college from the “Lost Cause” messaging that has long undergirded its curriculum.

While opponents argue that these bills represent an attack on their heritage, Askew sees things differently.

“A tax exemption is a privilege and not a right,” he said before the bill’s passage. “This legislation does not challenge Confederate organizations’ right to exist. It is not about free speech. It’s not about taking down any monuments. But it’s about fairness and financial and fiscal priorities of Virginia.”