With shuttered city offices and employees enjoying a three-day weekend, Confederate Memorial Day passed in Vicksburg with little fanfare — and even less production from city employees.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen declared the day a city holiday. It has long been observed in Warren County and in the State of Mississippi, but it has not been a staple celebration inside the city. We wonder, though, if the city leaders chose to “celebrate” this day out of genuine respect for the Confederacy or just an excuse to give city workers another day off.

If it was the former, should there not have been some kind of Confederate tribute throughout the city? No way. It’s 2012.

So we must believe that city officials decided they wanted an extra holiday to complete a springtime three-day weekend. In that case, shame, shame, shame.

Will other holidays be in the offerings in the future?

• National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day — this one happened on April 2, but maybe the city could put it on the calendar for next year.

• May 14 is National Chicken Dance Day, which easily could be combined with World Belly Dance Day, but it fell on a Saturday, so city workers are out of luck.

This is not to lessen the importance of Confederate Memorial Day to those who truly, genuinely observe and hold the day in reverence. Confederate Memorial Day is a day set aside in the South to pay tribute to those who served with the Confederacy in the Civil War.

Scholars will argue the true cause of the war, but no doubt exists that the issue of slavery was a prime component. In a city with a population comprised of 66 percent black residents, how genuine can the city be in its declaration of this as a city holiday?