Jefferson Davis statue needs to be removed from Kentucky Capitol, Andy Beshear says

As protests against racism and police brutality continue to dominate headlines and rock the streets of Louisville and the nation, Gov. Andy Beshear left no doubt about his position regarding a controversial monument to the president of the Confederacy in the Kentucky Capitol.

"I believe the statue of Jefferson Davis should not be in the Rotunda," Beshear told reporters at his Thursday media briefing.

The statue honoring Davis, a Kentucky native who served as the president of the Confederacy during the Civil War, was unveiled in the Capitol Rotunda in December 1936, after the United Daughters of the Confederacy rallied for it to be built two years earlier.

It has stood since then as a lightning rod of controversy in the commonwealth, as opponents have asked why a statue honoring the first and only president of the Confederate States of America should have a home at the Kentucky Capitol.

Beshear is bewildered, too. He threw up his hands toward the end of his statement Thursday as he drove his point home.

Officials are looking into moving the statue, he said, but in the meantime, it shouldn't be hard to grasp why a statue honoring one of the leading figures of the Confederacy would offend many around the commonwealth.

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"I believe the Jefferson Davis statue is a symbol that divides us, and even if there are those that think it's a part of history, there should be a better place to put it in historic context," Beshear said. "Right now, seeing so much pain in our state and across our country, can't we at least realize that so many of our fellow Kentuckians — people that, again, we're talking about having compassion in terms of COVID, we ought to have compassion for all pain — can't we understand that it is, at the very least, so hurtful to them? Doesn't that at least justify it not sitting where it does right now?"

Beshear's statement came as protests continue around the country, including those in Louisville, where demonstrators have rallied every night for the last week to remember Breonna Taylor and David McAtee, two black Louisvillians shot and killed by law enforcement in recent months. Many took to the downtown streets again Thursday night, marching through the rain down Market Street as sunset approached.

Beshear isn't the only one who's stood against the statue. A plaque on the monument that called Davis a "patriot" and "hero" was removed in March 2018 after the Historic Properties Advisory Commission voted in favor of the move. 

State Rep. Reginald Meeks, a Louisville Democrat and chair of the Legislative Black Caucus, called that decision a "typical Kentucky half-measure" after he and many state officials had advocated for the removal of the statue. 

Former Gov. Matt Bevin, in office when the plaque was taken off the statue, had advocated for its removal as a candidate, before saying in 2017 that tearing it down would set a "dangerous precedent" that would seek to erase history, even if that history may not paint Kentucky in a favorable light.

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That comment came as Louisville and Mayor Greg Fischer moved to take down a Confederate monument on Third Street that was later moved to Brandenburg, Kentucky, in the aftermath of the deadly 2017 "Unite the Right" white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Another statue honoring John B. Castleman, a Confederate officer who later played a key role in the foundation of Louisville's park system, has been hit with paint so many times since 2017 that city officials don't even bother to clean it up anymore.

The NAACP, the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights and some Bluegrass State lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have called for the Davis statue to be removed in the past few years.

Following Beshear's latest remarks, U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth, a Louisville Democrat, tweeted Saturday that he "fully" supports the governor's call.

"Its time — if there ever was one — has long passed," Yarmuth said of the statue.

Amy McGrath, one of the Democrats vying to win this month's primary for the chance to unseat Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in November, also agreed with Beshear, calling the statue "a symbol of great pain and suffering dating back to our country and state’s past scourge of slavery."

"Today, this statue represents more division than pride as it reflects the poisonous beliefs that not all people are created equal," McGrath said Saturday in a statement. "Its presence in the Capitol is a daily reminder of a vile racism in our country that should have died a long time ago. This is the right thing to do, and it’s about time we did it."

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And the temperature's rising for other Confederate monuments around the nation. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced this week that a statue honoring Gen. Robert E. Lee would come down "as soon as possible," while officials from other cities in Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana and Tennessee have also taken action against Confederate monuments.

Davis' statue stands in Frankfort's Capitol alongside other monuments to famous Kentucky political figures, including Henry Clay and Abraham Lincoln.

Davis is also honored with a towering obelisk in Todd County, where he was born, and the surrounding Jefferson Davis State Park.

Lucas Aulbach can be reached at laulbach@courier-journal.com, 502-582-4649 or on Twitter @LucasAulbach. Support strong local journalism and subscribe: www.courier-journal.com/lucasa.