Confederate statues: city’s shameful graffiti (KY)

BY DAVID ADKINS

... John C. Breckinridge, the subject of one of the statues, is the only person to be convicted of treason by the U.S. Senate. Yet his likeness is literally put on a pedestal in the heart of our town, just blocks from where I live. Those who sought to honor his service by erecting a statue did us all a disservice. We should follow the lead of his fellow senators who voted to eject him from the Senate.

If Mayor Jim Gray truly wants to provide historical context to accompany the statue, he will have the word “traitor” boldly emblazoned on the statue’s pedestal and a noose and whip added to the sculpted hands.

Likewise, John Hunt Morgan, celebrated as the Confederate general on horseback, was a slavery-defending despot whose careless disregard as a military commander ended up getting hundreds of his troops unnecessarily killed. He is no one to hold up as a role model.

It is senseless to honor these men because to do so, regardless of any context provided, is to tacitly endorse their misdeeds and brutality in the cause of preserving slavery. The prominence and positioning of these statues was intentional. The propaganda they were intended to be cannot be explained away ...

http://www.kentucky.com/opinion/op-ed/article62718482.html