England Pushes For Alabama To Drop Jefferson Davis Holiday

MONTGOMERY, AL — One Tuscaloosa-area policymaker is putting a new twist on his longstanding push for Alabama to part ways with a state holiday commemorating the birth of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

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State Rep. Chris England, a Democrat from Tuscaloosa who also chairs the Alabama Democratic Party, is sponsoring HB58 during the current Alabama Legislative Session. If passed, the bill would remove the Jefferson Davis holiday and replace it with State Employee Appreciation Day.

Click here to view the full eight-page piece of legislation.

In a 2020 letter to Gov. Kay Ivey denouncing the Jefferson Davis holiday, England referred to the only president of the Confederate States of America as "a traitor and a racist who lived in our state for less than a year."

Indeed, the Confederacy was established in Montgomery in February 1861, before a swift pivot by Davis — a Mississippian — saw the capital moved to Richmond after Virginia seceded from the United States less than a year later.

This statutory holiday is celebrated on the first Monday in June.

While England conceded that the bill would not likely be well received by the Republican super majority in the Alabama Statehouse, he stressed the importance of keep the conversation alive with respect to the state shedding some of its more troublesome entanglements that can be found in its law books.

"I honestly just want to help Alabama take small steps towards racial reconciliation," he told Patch on Sunday.

England's bill has been filed and referred to the House of Representatives Committee on State Government.

Separate from the holiday in question, Alabama also observes Robert E. Lee's birthday, with the state honoring the leader of the Confederate Army on the same day as Martin Luther King Day. Unlike Davis, Lee never called Alabama home for any period of time.

Numerous states, including Alabama, also recognize Confederate Memorial Day, which is still the fourth Monday in April in the Yellowhammer State.

Here is the full letter England sent to Gov. Ivey in 2020:

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