Davis statue does not ‘represent who we are or hope to be’ in Kentucky

History has a way of repeating itself. Robert Penn Warren, author of All the Kings Men and a Todd County native once said, “The lack of a sense of history is the damnation of the modern world.” I wonder how Warren would feel today about the legacy of another Todd County native, Jefferson Davis.

I’ve spent a significant amount of my adult life working in and around the state Capitol. I first recall being in the building during the Kentucky Youth Assembly’s mock legislative session in middle school. I remember walking up to the statue of Abraham Lincoln and rubbing his boot for good luck, something I have continued to do (albeit pre-Covid 19) throughout my career, often to strange looks from my colleagues. At some point, I became aware of the other statues in the Rotunda, including that of Jefferson Davis.

In my most recent professional capacity in Frankfort, I served as Gov. Matt Bevin’s Personnel Cabinet Secretary. Among the mandates of the Cabinet was to oversee statewide equal employment compliance and promote a diverse workforce. One of the Cabinet’s crowning achievements was transforming our stagnant equal employment opportunity conference into the largest and most vibrant of its kind in the state, featuring national caliber speakers. From deep and meaningful conversations about how we truly confront the evils of racism and create an inclusive workforce, I learned that we owe it our state’s employees and citizens to think carefully about those we choose to honor and ensure those honorees represent the goals and values of an inclusive workforce.

I now find myself as a relatively new member of the Kentucky Historic Properties Advisory Commission, the organization that oversees what will be displayed in the Rotunda, including the ongoing controversy of the Davis statue.

A loud chorus of voices maintain the statue should remain where it is as a testament to Kentucky’s tumultuous history. What better way to get people’s attention than have a confrontational figure like Jefferson Davis located just feet away from Abraham Lincoln? They ask, “If we don’t know our history, will we be doomed to repeat it?” As I look at the news of the day, in particular the recent tragedy in Louisville, my own position is that whatever value the Davis statue and his legacy may have, it has no business in our Capitol.

Although we should not forget our history, there are ways to learn about our past without giving a place of honor to a statue, that to so many, does not represent who we are or hope to be, as a people or as a state. The Capitol is more than a building and the Rotunda is literally the heart of our three co-equal branches of government. The Rotunda and the statues in it should epitomize what is best about us. It is not a place today for the President of the Confederacy.

It’s my belief that the Davis statue should be moved out of the Rotunda to a place like the Kentucky History Museum. Difficult issues face the Commonwealth, including massive unemployment, questions about law enforcement, and how we as a society will function in the face of a global pandemic. Unlike these issues, the question about what to do with the Davis statue, in my opinion, is not a difficult one. The statue should be moved. While we should not forget our history, it’s time for this controversy to end.

Thomas Stephens is former Personnel Cabinet Secretary and a current member of the Historic Properties Advisory Commission.

This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 11:21 AM.