Although the Confederate flag does not fly on government properties in Kentucky, the national controversy around the symbol turned discussions toward the state’s capitol, where a statue of Jefferson Davis stands in the capitol rotunda.
A Kentucky commission created to determine whether the statue should remain in the capitol decided to keep it, citing the fact that it stands near one of
Abraham Lincoln as a reason, the Star-Tribune reported.
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"I bet we are the only capitol rotunda in United States where you can walk in to see a statue of Jefferson Davis and Abraham Lincoln in that proximity. That speaks volumes about the divide that Kentucky felt during the Civil War," commission chairman Steve Collins told the newspaper. "Removing the statue of Jefferson Davis makes it impossible for us to tell that story the way that we can tell it with both statues there."
But some voted in favor of removing the statue from government grounds including Commissioner Nash Cox. "I think you can certainly define it as educational. At the same time, by its very existence you cannot deny that placing a statue there gives it a certain importance and that somehow the state government upholds the figure there for whatever that person represents," Cox told the Star-Tribune.
Elsewhere in Lexington, two Civil War statues on the grounds of the old courthouse are causing controversy, and as of August 2015, it had not been determined whether the statues would be removed.
Community leaders are soliciting public opinion on the placement of statues of Confederate officers John Hunt Morgan and John C. Breckinridge, which have been near the Main Street Courthouse for more
than 100 years, WKYT reported.
Scott White,
writing an opinion piece for the Lexington Herald-Leader, advocated the removal of the statues.
"It is insulting that my hometown would tolerate honoring men who fought to be free to live in a society and economy based on a plantation system dependent on slave labor," he wrote. "As a Christian, I am insulted that we would honor men who sought to perpetuate such a vile institution — an evil not just of their time but which continues to corrode our country today."
But many in the comments did not agree with White’s position.
"Censoring history does not change what lies in people's hearts, and destroying historical monuments because a single group of people ‘might’ have a negative reaction against them is absurd, " one person wrote.
Aside from statues honoring Kentucky participate in the Confederate Army, some residents have stepped forward to defend the Confederate flag, as well.
Pro-Confederate flag groups held a rally in July 2015 to stand up for the flag’s strong history, to protest “history genocide,” and to say that it is not a symbol of
oppression and race, The Courier-Journal reported.
Craig Cain, a captain in Sons of the Confederate Soldiers, spoke at the event, according to the newspaper, and asked the crowd, holding up a Bible, "Is this the next piece of history they are going to take? Are they going to erase our culture?"
The group sang "Dixie" and hailed Davis as a "visionary leader," the Courier-Journal said.
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