JACKSON, Miss. - State government offices are closing Monday in Mississippi and Alabama for Confederate Memorial Day.

Georgia used to mark the holiday, but removed the Confederate reference in 2015. Now, the last Monday in April there is simply called State Holiday.

Confederate Memorial Day in Mississippi and Alabama commemorates those who died during the Civil War while fighting for Southern states that tried to secede from the U.S. The Confederate military surrendered in April 1865.

South Carolina holds a Confederate Memorial Day in May to mark the day Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson died.

Critics say it's wrong to honor those who fought to preserve slavery. Some supporters of the holiday say the average Southerner fought because Yankees were trying to disrupt their lives.