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Commission Votes To Keep Davis Statue In Kentucky Capitol

J. Stephen Conn / Flickr (Creative Commons License)

A statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis will remain in the Kentucky State Capitol building’s rotunda.

The Historic Properties Advisory Commission voted to keep the statue despite calls from Gov. Steve Beshear, Sen. Mitch McConnell, leaders of both legislative chambers, and the Republican and Democratic nominees for governor.

Kentucky NAACP President Raoul Cunningham said that he was disappointed in the vote.

“I don’t think you need a statue of Hitler in the state capitol to discuss the ills of Nazism or the Holocaust," remarked Cunningham.

Calls to remove the statue began after a shooting in a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina in late June. The incident prompted many southern states to re-evaluate Confederate symbols on state properties.

Ryland Barton is the Managing Editor for Collaboratives. He's covered politics and state government for NPR member stations KWBU in Waco and KUT in Austin. He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Chicago and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Texas. He grew up in Lexington.

Email Ryland at rbarton@lpm.org.
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