MARION COUNTY, Fla. — Commissioners the measure during Tuesday’s meeting after a resident submitted the request to have the month symbolically recognized.
“I think history is good,” said resident Mike Baker.
Others did not agree.
“It brings back a lot of bad memories of racism,” said another Marion County resident.
Commissioners said April is the time during which the Confederate States of America initiated and ended its four-year struggle to become a sovereign and independent nation.
Commissioners said in their proclamation that the state of Florida lent more soldiers and sailors to the Confederate cause than any other Southern state.
April 26 has been designated as a legal holiday and will be used to honor the memories of those who sacrificed their lives in the Civil War between 1861 and 1865, commissioners said.
Eyewitness News told you in 2015 when the county took down the Confederate flag outside the administration building following the massacre at a black church in South Carolina. The flag removal sparked controversy and county leaders eventually put it back up.