Following calls by Gov. Andy Beshear and Attorney General Daniel Cameron, along with the ongoing protests around Kentucky and the nation denouncing racism and police brutality, the statue of Confederate president Jefferson Davis was removed from the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort on Friday.
The Kentucky Historic Properties Advisory Commission voted 11-1 at a special called meeting Friday morning to remove the statue from the rotunda.
The 15-foot-tall marble statue of Davis, born in Fairview in 1808, was placed in the rotunda in 1936. It stands next to a statue of Abraham Lincoln. The statue will be moved to the Jefferson Davis Monument State Historic Site in Todd County, near where Davis was born.
Preparations to remove the five-ton statue were made by workers Friday morning and afternoon, with the statue scheduled to be removed on Saturday.
Last week, Beshear said about the statue, “Even if there are those who think it’s a part of history, there should be a better place to put it in historic context. And right now, seeing so much pain in our state and across our country, can’t we at least realize that in so many of our fellow Kentuckians … it is in the very least so hurtful to them? And doesn’t that at least justify it not sitting where it does right now?
“I don’t think it should be in the Capitol Rotunda,” he added.
Cameron, the first black man to be elected Kentucky’s Attorney General, said in a statement on Tuesday that Jefferson Davis is part of our past, “but he didn’t define our future, Abraham Lincoln did.”
“I think the Davis statue should be relocated,” Cameron noted. “… I can think of many other historical figures more deserving of a permanent home in our Capitol.”
After the commission voted to remove the statue, Behsear said, “Today is a historic day in the commonwealth.”
“It was past time for this vote and for this action,” the governor continued. “But what it will mean is that we get a little closer to truly being Team Kentucky; that every child who walks into this Capitol feels welcome, and none of them have to look at a symbol and a statue that stands for the enslavement of their ancestors. Today is a move toward showing that everybody is welcome in this building and that our government should work for the betterment of every single Kentuckian; that we have systematic issues that we must address, but that now is the time to truly move forward, to truly make progress and to show that Team Kentucky includes every single Kentuckian.
Neither Beshear nor Cameron had the power to order the removal of the statue, as that decision lied with the Historic Properties Advisory Commission.
The issue of Confederate statues and symbols have been placed in the forefront over the last two weeks, as protests have raged in many American cities after the murder of 46-year-old George Floyd, a black man, by a Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer, and the shooting death of black jogger Ahmaud Arbery, 25, in Georgia by armed vigilantes.
Additionally, in Louisville, Lexington and several smaller Kentucky cities (including Leitchfield), rallies have been held over the last 14 days in memory of Breonna Taylor, 26,who was shot eight times by Louisville police in March as they executed a no-knock warrant, and David McAtee, 53, who died after National Guard members and Louisville police apparently exchanged gunfire with McAtee while clearing a Louisville parking lot during a protest.
It was announced on Tuesday that the bullet that killed McAtee was fired by the National Guard.
(Photo: Workers preparing to remove statue of Jefferson Davis from Capitol Rotunda, courtesy of the Courier-Journal)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
