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An 11-1 vote by the state's Historic Properties Advisory Commission was requested last week by Gov. Andy Beshear, who said the statue should be moved elsewhere. Members of the commission said that the statue will be moved to the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site near Fairview, Ky., where Davis was born
"Today has been a historic day in the Commonwealth," Beshear said in a statement. "What it will mean is that ... every child that 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. We have systematic issues that we must address, but now is the time to truly move forward."
Advocates have for years been asking state officials to remove the Davis statue. In 2018, officials removed a plaque declaring the only president of the Confederacy to be a “Patriot-Hero-Statesman.”
“When I see the Jefferson Davis statue in my state Capitol, and knowing our history, I can’t find a lot of reasons to honor this man in that way,” said commissioner member Cathy Thomas, adding that he “enslaved human beings” and “rebelled against the United States of America.”
“It’s purpose was clear in the 1930s as it is today,” she said. “The statue was placed to reaffirm a legacy of white supremacy … during a time when black Kentuckians lived with threats of violence and lynchings and a system of segregation that denied us basic rights as American citizens.”