Simone Nied was eating dinner a few months back when her father, an attorney, mentioned a strange real estate tax exemption he had found in the state code. It stated that the Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy was exempt from paying real estate recordation taxes when it buys, sells or leases property.
Nied, 15, is an intern for Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Virginia Beach, and a rising sophomore at Kempsville High School. She’s starting an organization to help female high schoolers take leadership positions in their communities and run for office.
She did some research, watched a documentary about the Daughters of the Confederacy and found an article in Facing South, an online magazine put out by the Institute for Southern Studies, that described it as “a sort of public relations agency” for the Ku Klux Klan.
She wondered why the tax exemption was still on the books. “I was appalled,” she said. “I was kind of disgusted.”
But she took action. She reached out to Del. Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, the minority leader of the Virginia House, who had no idea that law existed.
“I was shocked when she brought it to my attention,” said Scott, who will try to repeal the exemption in the upcoming session.
Scott said he’s not optimistic about getting the governor’s support.
“I’m sure Gov. (Glenn) Youngkin will try to kill it because he wants to perpetuate the mythology of the Confederacy,” Scott said.
Youngkin’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Scott’s trying to figure out the best way to repeal it, through legislation or a budget amendment. He said he would introduce something in January.
Nied said she hasn’t been able to learn much about the history of the statute. It is in a section of the code that goes back to 1950 and was updated in the past few years. Though the Daughters of the Confederacy no longer work to raise Confederate monuments, Nied thinks repealing the exemption would “send a message.”
She wants to show that Virginia no longer supports the group and thinks people should understand its racist history.
On its website, the Daughters of the Confederacy describes itself as a moderate heritage organization.
“We are the descendants of Confederate soldiers, sailors, and patriots,” President Linda Edwards wrote. “Our members are the ones who have spent 126 years honoring their memory by various activities in the fields of education, history and charity, promoting patriotism and good citizenship.
“Our members are the ones who, like our statues, have stayed quietly in the background, never engaging in public controversy. The United Daughters of the Confederacy totally denounces any individual or group that promotes racial divisiveness or white supremacy.”
But the website also lists a chapter named for Nathan Bedford Forrest, the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. The organization did not respond to requests for comment.
The monuments built through the efforts of the Daughters of the Confederacy have created pain, Nied said, and their rewriting of history has caused people to believe a false historical narrative.
“We need to acknowledge our wrongs in our history,” Nied said.
Noble Brigham, noble.brigham@virginiamedia.com
