Proposed removal of Jefferson Davis statue from the Kentucky Capitol rotunda.

POSITION

Opposed

A proposal is being advanced towards the State legislature to remove the statue of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America. The idea is being spearheaded by Raoul Cunningham of the NAACP of Louisville, who also is a former member of the board of Directors of the Kentucky Historical Society, and also by former state senator Georgia Powers. Two previous attempts have been unsuccessful.

Kent Whitworth, executive director of the Kentucky History Center, who also is on the board of the Kentucky Military Heritage Commission, has tried to block protection of the statue by the Kentucky Military Commission.

Historian Ron Bryant points out that removal of the statue is tantamount to "book burning," an attempt to erase history. "Originally the statue was intended to stand beside a statue of Abraham Lincoln to represent reunion of the country."

Slave descendants of U.S. Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson of Scott County, Ky. have voiced opposition to removal of the statue. "Don’t erase our history," they’ve stated. "How will we teach our descendants what is true when the evidence is taken away?"

Concerned members oppose any removal of the Jefferson Davis statue from the Kentucky State Capitol rotunda.