Very disturbing to hear the news that the much-anticipated Jefferson Davis statue will not be placed at the American Civil War Center in Richmond. I guess I am more disappointed than surprised considering the way political correctness has seeped into our institutions, destroying the very values, traditions, laws and principles that this great country was founded upon.
For those of you who are not aware, the Sons of Confederate Veterans commissioned the life-sized bronze statue of Jefferson Davis by artist Gary Casteel at a cost of more than $100,000. The piece features President Davis standing with his son Joe, along with Jim Limber, the mixed-race orphan the Davis family took in. The statue was intended and designed as an interpretive display to educate the public about President Davis and his contributions. The Sons offered to donate the piece and museum officials previously said they would accept it. However, their acceptance apparently came with no guarantee of where or even whether the statue might be displayed. (I fear museum officials may have borrowed a page from the National Park Service’s playbook – this is a scheme they have employed to ruse the unsuspecting).
Since the American Civil War Center opened at the Tredegar Iron Works to tell the story of the Civil War, one would think that the man who served as the president of the Confederate states might play a role in that telling. It’s a very curious state of affairs, especially considering the huge controversy that resulted when this museum – which is located in what was once the capital of the Confederate states – placed a statue of Abraham Lincoln there over the justified protests of those with Confederate heritage ties.
The Sons are currently in talks with two other undisclosed sites that may be willing to take the statue. Hopefully it will be a site that is dedicated to telling the true story of the War Between the States – not a version that has been revised, modified and censored into a form barely discernible to the historically savvy.