Panel is keeping Jefferson Davis statue in Kentucky Capitol

[struggle4progress]

11:05 AM Thursday Aug 6, 2015

FRANKFORT, Kentucky (AP) " A Kentucky commission will not remove a statue of Jefferson Davis from the state Capitol, saying the likeness of the Confederate president juxtaposes nicely with an imposing statue of fellow Kentuckian Abraham Lincoln as a testimony to the state's divisive history during and after the Civil War ...

The vote by the all-white commission follows the racially motivated slayings of nine black church members in South Carolina ...

The commission took its vote after receiving about 3,000 public comments. Of those, about 1,800 asked to keep the statue while 1,225 called for it to be removed. Both major party nominees for Kentucky governor have called for the statue's removal, as have other state politicians from both political parties. The Sons of Confederate Veterans opposed the removal, holding a rally at the statehouse last month calling on lawmakers to respect the state's history ...

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11492957

[struggle4progress]

1. Jefferson Davis statue will stay in Kentucky's Capitol rotunda

Controversial statue will not be moved based on educational value
By Brad Bowman, Published: August 6, 2015 8:16AM

... Raoul Cunningham, president of Kentucky State Conference NAACP, said you can teach people about the history of the holocaust without a statue of Hitler and the commission didn’t really make a decision Wednesday but rather skirted the issue ...

Given the General Assembly put the Davis statue in the Rotunda under Gov. A.B. “Happy” Chandler, Cunningham said the NAACP would approach the General Assembly again for its removal. He quoted a State Journal article from 1936 to make his point to the press ...

Chandler is quoted as saying: “Jefferson Davis is not dead. He still lives in the heart of the people and will continue with this statue.”

Cunningham said, “I think that symbolizes what that statue represents. It represents more than an educational tool. It does represent what it represents and therefore we still think it should be removed” ...

http://www.state-journal.com/local%20news/2015/08/05/davis-statue-will-stay-in-kentucky-s-capitol-rotunda