https://doi.org/10.1177/17506980211054336 Memory Studies 2021, Vol. 14(6) 1314–1332 © The Author(s) 2021 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/17506980211054336 journals.sagepub.com/home/mss The crisis of Confederate memory in the interior of São Paulo, Brazil Jordan P Brasher Columbus State University, USA Abstract The crisis over Confederate memory in the United States has dominated international headlines since the tragic events of racist violence associated with the 2017 Charlottesville tragedy. Yet the scale of debate and attention paid to this crisis has been mostly limited to the United States, despite the globalized nature of Confederate memory politics. Little known is the fact that after the US Civil War, several thousand ex- Confederates migrated to Brazil where descendants still celebrate their heritage with a festival that draws thousands to a rural area of São Paulo state. A descendant-curated museum also narrates the Confederate migration. Drawing on work in critical settler colonial and comparative racial and ethnic studies, the “transcultural turn” in memory studies, and a year of fieldwork, this article traces the crisis of Confederate memory to the interior of São Paulo, Brazil, and explores the global impact the 2017 Charlottesville tragedy has had on Confederate commemoration. Keywords Brazil, Confederacy, settler colonialism, slavery, transcultural memory Introduction “Longe de Charlottesville, São Paulo também celebra o ‘lado errado de história’.” [“Far from Charlottesville, São Paulo also celebrates the ‘wrong side of history’.”] —Ana Maria Gonçalves (2017), The Intercept Brasil The tragic incident which took the life of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, Virginia, on 12 August 2017 when a white supremacist deliberately drove a car into a crowd of people peacefully counter- protesting against a “Unite the Right” rally has garnered significant attention from memory studies scholars and a growing international audience. The rally—infamously organized in objection to the removal and relocation of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from what is now called Emancipation Park to a place on the periphery of town—became a flashpoint in broader public Corresponding author: Jordan P Brasher, Department of History & Geography, Columbus State University, 355 Yancey Center at One Arsenal Place, 901 Front Avenue, Columbus, GA 31901, USA. Email: brasher_jordan@columbusstate.edu 1054336MSS 0 0 10.1177/17506980211054336Memory StudiesBrasher research-article 2021 Article