Last summer, I had the privilege of serving as an intern for a US Senator. Among the many honors and duties we were assigned, we offered private tours of the US Capitol to constituents from our state. We showed these constituents many places of historic interest throughout the Capitol, from the
Old Supreme Court Chamber (the home of many landmark Supreme Court cases regarding race, including the corrosive
Dred Scott v. Sandford and the uplifting
United States v. The Amistad) to the
Capitol rotunda (housing statues of our Founding Fathers, many presidents, and Martin Luther King, Jr., along with artwork showing the history of our country) to the Senate gallery where constituents can observe their senators at work. If you have never visited your Capitol, I strongly recommend you pay it a visit. It is an awe-inspiring building that tells the great tale of all that has gone into making a more perfect Union, a project that continues to this day.
One other place we took constituents was the National Statuary Hall. A stunningly beautiful chamber that housed the House of Representatives from 1807 to 1857, it is now the home of many statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection. It is a little-known fact that every state is allotted two statues to represent its citizens in our nation's Capitol (if you want to know which statues represent you, here is the collection list). They are featured throughout the Capitol building, but the most prominent location is National Statuary Hall. It includes many of our nation's most notable political figures, such as Bob La Follette, Huey Long, and Henry Clay. It also features a statue of Rosa Parks, commissioned by Congress and added in 2013. She is a very popular statue among visitors, especially among children who have just learned in their classes about her persistent struggle to advance the rights of black Americans.
However, not all of the statues represent heroes emblematic of American virtues.
During one particular tour, something struck me: mere feet from this tribute to Parks and the civil rights movement are statues in honor of Jefferson Davis and Alexander Stephens, respectively the President and Vice President of the Confederacy. Two of the most reviled figures in our nation's history, the ideals for which they fought were antithetical to almost everything we hold dear as Americans. We can no longer allow these symbols of their anti-American and racist legacy to stain the image of our nation's Capitol. Continue reading below the fold to understand the merits of their removal, what it will take to remove them, and with whom I believe they should be replaced.
Why should these statues be removed?
Both of these men were at the forefront of perpetuating slavery in the United States.
To disregard this primary fact is to disregard history and their own remarks.
To honor this legacy is to oppose the progress we have made.
Having grown up in a family that became very wealthy through human enslavement,
Jefferson Davis became a major proponent of slavery in the Senate prior to secession (owning 113 slaves himself by 1860). Having served as a colonel in the Mexican-American War, Davis was appointed to serve in the US Senate by
Mississippi Governor Albert Brown following the death of Senator Jesse Speight in May of 1847. Davis and Brown shared similar ideals regarding slavery, particularly their wish to expand slavery into Central America. The Mexican-American War in which Davis served was ended with the Treaty of Guadelupe Hidalgo, critical in shaping the boundaries of the United States and Mexico as they exist today. Davis sought to amend the Treaty to annex the bulk of northeastern Mexico with the intention of expanding slavery; the amendment failed 11 to 44. He insisted that Cuba "must be ours" to "increase the number of slaveholding constituencies."
In December of 1850, the legislature re-elected Davis to another term, but in September of 1851, he resigned from the Senate to run for Governor. His primary issue was opposition to the Compromise of 1850, particularly the addition of California as a free state along with the potential outlawing of slavery in territories. Davis narrowly lost the gubernatorial election to a pro-Compromise Union candidate and was left without political office until 1853, when he was appointed by President Franklin Pierce to become Secretary of War. Following the completion of this service, he returned to the Senate in 1857, where he was a vociferous defender of slavery and even promoted the limited return of the slave trade. Davis resigned from the Senate in early 1861 upon Mississippi's secession from the Union; he was soon after elected President of the Confederacy. He remained in this role through the entire war, vociferously defending the South's right to secede and right to allow slavery.
Alexander Stephens faced a difficult upbringing. His birth mother died when he was three months of age, and at the age of 14, his father and stepmother died just days apart. He was often ill and moved around a great deal. At five feet seven inches, he generally weighed less than 100 pounds as an adult. He attended the Franklin College in Athens (today known as the University of Georgia), where he graduated at the top of his class in 1832. He passed the bar in 1834, and over the 32 years of his legal practice, he frequently defended people wrongly accused of crimes, including the successful defense of a slave woman accused of attempted murder.
However, while he saw great success in spite of his difficult life circumstances, he soon turned toward darker practices. As he became wealthier from his practice, he came to acquire 34 slaves and thousands of acres of land prior to the Civil War. Following service in the Georgia legislature, Stephens served in the US House from 1843 to 1859. He was present for every sectional policy battle over slavery preceding the war, transforming over time from a moderate proponent to a vigorous defender of the institution of slavery. In contrast to Davis, Stephens supported the Compromise of 1850, but like Davis, he was not happy about the potential denial of slavery in the western territories.
He did not seek re-election in 1858, and while he was initially hesitant about secession from the Union, his racism was very clear. On March 21, 1861, just months after Georgia seceded from the Union and he was elected Vice President of the Confederacy, Stephens delivered his infamous Cornerstone Speech (you can read the full speech here). It is an important speech at an important moment in history. The key excerpt:
The new Constitution has put at rest forever all the agitating questions relating to our peculiar institutions—African slavery as it exists among us—the proper status of the negro in our form of civilization. This was the immediate cause of the late rupture and present revolution. Jefferson, in his forecast, had anticipated this, as the "rock upon which the old Union would split." He was right. What was conjecture with him, is now a realized fact. But whether he fully comprehended the great truth upon which that rock stood and stands, may be doubted. The prevailing ideas entertained by him and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old Constitution were, that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature; that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally and politically. It was an evil they knew not well how to deal with; but the general opinion of the men of that day was, that, somehow or other, in the order of Providence, the institution would be evanescent and pass away... Those ideas, however, were fundamentally wrong. They rested upon the assumption of the equality of races. This was an error. It was a sandy foundation, and the idea of a Government built upon it—when the "storm came and the wind blew, it fell."
Our new Government is founded upon exactly the opposite ideas; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and normal condition.
In Stephens' own words, black Americans were inherently inferior to white Americans, and slavery (not "states' rights" or any other loaded terms) was the "immediate cause" for the secession and rebellion of the Confederacy (a secession he vigorously defended as justified in his remarks). Again, Stephens' statue sits mere feet from Parks' statue. One would think irony is dead.
As a whole, these men were devoted to the cause of slavery and actively betrayed America. They willingly led the Confederacy in opposition to the United States, defying the democratic process and the rule of law. Regardless of the merits of fighting for your beliefs, there is no reason that the primary proponents of slavery and treason should be honored in our nation's capitol, a place honoring unity and democratic principles.
How can these statues be replaced?
The procedures and guidelines for replacing these figures can be found here. It needs to be understood that replacement is primarily a state issue rather than a federal issue because these are statues selected by the states to represent them.
In accordance with legislation enacted in 2000, “Any State may request the Joint Committee on the Library of Congress to approve the replacement of a statue the State has provided for display in Statuary Hall” under two conditions:
(A) the request has been approved by a resolution adopted by the legislature of the State and the request has been approved by the Governor of the State, and
(B) the statue to be replaced has been displayed in the Capitol of the United States for at least 10 years as of the time the request is made, except that the Joint Committee may waive this requirement for cause at the request of a State.
Because Stephens was added in 1927 and Davis was added in 1931, both statues easily fulfill the second requirement. To meet the first requirement, the Mississippi legislature must vote for a resolution to remove Davis, approved by Governor Phil Bryant; the Georgia legislature must vote for a resolution to remove Stephens, approved by Governor Nathan Deal. Each legislature must name the new individual who will be commemorated in his place along with the new individual's qualifications. The state is also responsible for determining the sculptor, payment of expenses, and transportation of the old and new statues.
It should be noted that there is precedent to replacing a statue of a Confederate figure with a more positive role model. In 2009, Alabama replaced their statue of Jabez Curry, a lieutenant colonel in the Confederate Army and a member of the Confederate Congress, with a statue of Helen Keller. It has been done before, and we can do it again.
Who should replace these Confederate figures?
This is the most subjective question. In my mind, it would make the most sense to replace the Confederacy's leaders with black Americans critical to the advancement of equality. It should be noted that, out of all 100 statues representing the 50 states, there are no statues honoring black Americans.
Here are the requirements regarding subject matter for replacement statues:
The subject of the statue must be a deceased person who was a citizen of the United States and is illustrious for historic renown or for distinguished civic or military services. Statues may represent only one individual (ruling adopted by the Joint Committee on the Library at meeting of March 13, 1950). Statues should represent the full length.
For Mississippi, I believe
Medgar Evers is the best choice. Born the third of five children in July of 1925, he served his country honorably as a soldier in the Army. From 1943 to 1945, he fought in the European Theater of World War II, particularly in the Battle of Normandy. He was honorably discharged with the rank of sergeant. Following the war, he earned his Bachelor of Arts at Alcorn College in 1952. In December of 1951, he married Myrlie Beasley and soon had three young children.
During the 1950s, Evers became increasingly active as a civil rights leader in Mississippi. Working through the Regional Council of Negro Leadership, Evers was critical in organizing the boycott of filling stations that denied black Americans access to the stations' restrooms. In 1954, he was named the first field secretary for Mississippi for the NAACP, allowing him to help set up new local chapters for the NAACP and coordinate more boycotts, including the Biloxi Wade-Ins that were critical in desegregating the beaches of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
On June 11, 1963, President Kennedy delivered his historic Civil Rights Address, in which he laid out the moral case for affording all rights to black Americans (a case never before argued by a sitting president). In the early hours of June 12, 1963, as Evers returned from a meeting with NAACP lawyers, he was assassinated in front of his home. Shot in the back and left to stagger 30 feet before collapsing, he was rushed to the local hospital where he died less than an hour later (he was denied initial entrance because of his race until his identity was revealed). He was murdered by Byron De La Beckwith, a white supremacist and a member of the White Citizens' Council (its immediate successor organization is the Council of Conservative Citizens, the organization that inspired Dylann Roof's terrorism). He escaped prosecution because juries of all white men continuously deadlocked. Justice was not achieved until 1994, when a trial based on new evidence sentenced him to prison until his death in 2001.
Evers was buried in Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors. Thousands were in attendance for his funeral, and countless people visit his grave each year. He was a martyr for civil rights, and it makes clear sense to honor his legacy and the legacy of the civil rights movement by devoting a statue to him.
For Georgia, I believe
W.E.B. Du Bois is the best choice. Born in Massachusetts in 1868, Du Bois was the first black American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard University and was one of the preeminent historians, sociologists, and civil rights activists of the early 20th century. In 1897, Du Bois moved to Georgia and became a professor of economics and history at Atlanta University, a historically black college. Regarded as a strict yet exceptionally smart professor, Du Bois brought light to many social ills that black Americans faced and suggested potential solutions to these problems. An initial proponent of the concept of
the Talented Tenth, he believed it would require black leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Barack Obama to lead black Americans forward:
The Negro race, like all races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men. The problem of education, then, among Negroes must first of all deal with the Talented Tenth; it is the problem of developing the Best of this race that they may guide the Mass away from the contamination and death of the Worst.
To say the least, Du Bois was a prolific writer, and his writings had profound implications even decades after their publication. In 1903, in his effort to prove that black Americans are intellectually equal to white Americans, he published
The Souls of Black Folk, a collection of essays that addressed what he called the
double consciousness of black Americans - the struggle to reconcile African heritage with that of an American heritage rooted in slavery. In 1935, he published
Black Reconstruction in America, a radical text in its time insisting that Reconstruction did not fail because of newly freed slaves, but because white Southern elites deliberately sabotaged the process, subsequently suppressing poor black and white Southerners alike.
Du Bois was a co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1910. At his request, the newly-founded group used "colored" rather than "black" in its title with the intent of including all people of color. While he did not always agree with the direction of the NAACP (at one point cutting all ties with the organization, only to return a decade later), he was critical to its growth and advancement into the organization that it is more than a century later.
Du Bois continued fighting for his beliefs well into the early 1960s, when a new civil rights movement was led by a new generation of black leaders. He traveled around the world for his causes and settled in Ghana to work on the Encyclopedia Africana. Du Bois died at the age of 95 on August 27, 1963, the day before the March on Washington, where a moment of silence was held in honor of his life. The Civil Rights Act was passed less than a year later, containing many of the policy changes he advocated for the better part of a century. Du Bois was alive to see almost all of the dramatic shift of the black American experience. Born in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, he was alive from Reconstruction through the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, a key player throughout it all. A lifelong supporter of civil rights and workers' rights, he was often targeted for his beliefs, but was unwavering nonetheless. So much of the civil rights movement can be attributed to his legacy, and it makes sense to honor that legacy in the halls of our Capitol.
Are there other Confederate figures honored in the Capitol?
There are seven other statues honoring figures with direct ties to the Confederacy.
Below are those figures, where they are from, and who might be worthy replacements.
Joseph Wheeler of Alabama, located in Statuary Hall. Wheeler served in a series of Confederate military roles, leading forces from the start of the war in 1861 through the surrender of the Confederacy in 1865. Even by 1894 with his
Slavery and States' Rights speech, Wheeler continued to argue that the South was justified in secession and that the North was to blame for slavery and the war.
I believe Nat King Cole would be an excellent choice for a replacement statue. He is regarded as one of the greatest jazz performers of all time and found success in spite of persistent racism and threats against his life (whether it was the KKK burning crosses on his front lawn or KKK affiliates attempting to assault and kidnap him at a concert). Later in life, he became an important player in fighting segregation, helping to plan the March on Washington and frequently consulting Presidents Kennedy and Johnson regarding civil rights.
Edmund Kirby Smith of Florida, located in the Capitol Visitor Center. Smith is most noted for his command of the Trans-Mississippi Department (Texas, Arkansas, and western Louisiana) under Confederate rule. In the final year of the war, he was one of only seven Confederate generals. Smith fled to Mexico and later Cuba after defeat in fear of prosecution for treason, only to return to Virginia to take an oath of amnesty later that year.
Mary McLeod Bethune would be a strong replacement. Known as The First Lady of The Struggle for her commitment to expanding rights for black Americans, she started a private school for black students in Daytona Beach, particularly for black girls. In her words, "I believe that the greatest hope for the development of my race lies in training our women thoroughly and practically." From 1917 to 1925, Bethune served as the Florida chapter president of the National Association of Colored Women, a group formed to promote the needs of black women. Through the organization, she sought to register black voters even in the face of threats from the Ku Klux Klan and obstinate Florida voting laws. She went on to serve in President Franklin Roosevelt's Black Cabinet (the only woman in the group of advisers), where Roosevelt consulted with her on issues critical to advancing the life quality of black Americans; Bethune's close friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt in particular proved useful in advancing the causes of black Americans. Representing the NAACP along with W.E.B. Du Bois and Walter White, Bethune was the only black woman in attendance at the founding of the United Nations in 1945. In all, she served as an adviser to Presidents Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt, Truman, and Eisenhower. Our country has done a particularly poor job of confronting the struggles of women of color as well as a poor job of honoring women of color. It would be fitting to honor a woman of color who has advanced the rights of black Americans (particularly black women) in countless ways that continue to this day.
Edward Douglass White of Louisiana, located in the Capitol Visitor Center. He was born in 1945 to a prominent political family, made wealthy through a large sugar cane plantation dependent on slave labor. He went on to serve as a US Senator and later the Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court; as an Associate Justice, he sided with the majority ruling in
Plessy v. Ferguson that established segregation. While there has never been official documentation of his service in the Civil War, it has been widely understood that he enlisted as an infantryman for the Confederacy, and this was common knowledge during his initial confirmation to the court.
In contrast, Madam C.J. Walker was born in 1867 to a family of former slaves; she was the first member of her family born into freedom following the Civil War. Orphaned at the age of seven, she overcame overwhelming adversity to establish a beauty product empire and become the first female self-made millionaire in America. She also donated to the NAACP's anti-lynching efforts, served on the executive committee of the Silent Protest Parade of 1917 (the second major protest for black civil rights, organized by W.E.B. Du Bois), and directed the bulk of her estate to charity upon her death.
James Zachariah George of Mississippi, located in the Capitol Visitor Center. George served as a member of the Mississippi Secession Convention and signed their
Ordinance of Secession, eventually serving as a Confederate colonel of the 5th Mississippi Cavalry.
I believe Elvis Presley would be a very worthy contribution to the collection. He rose from poverty to become arguably the most influential American singer in history. As President Jimmy Carter remarked following his death, "His music and his personality, fusing the styles of white country and black rhythm and blues, permanently changed the face of American popular culture. His following was immense, and he was a symbol to people the world over of the vitality, rebelliousness, and good humor of his country." From pop to country to R&B and gospel, nearly every contemporary genre of music can demonstrate Presley's influence. He created a distinctly American sound that has made him one of the most recognizable voices in the world.
Zebulon Baird Vance of North Carolina, located in Statuary Hall. Born in 1830 as the third of eight children, his family was known to own 18 slaves. During the Civil War, he served as a captain of the Rough and Ready Guards, part of the Fourteenth North Carolina Regiment, and later served as Colonel of the Twenty-Sixth North Carolina Regiment. He went on to serve as Governor during the War and led the state's internal affairs until his arrest in May of 1865.
Floyd McKissick would be a fitting addition to the collection. He participated in many protests through the NAACP in his youth, and following his graduation from high school in 1939, he enlisted in the Army to serve as a Sergeant in the European Theater of World War II. After graduating Morehouse College in 1948, McKissick sought to attend the University of North Carolina School of Law, but was rejected because of his race. Following three years of litigation by the NAACP with Thurgood Marshall leading the petitioners, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that McKissick and three other black students be allowed to attend, and in 1951, McKissick officially became the first black student admitted to the UNC School of Law. He went on to establish a law firm that supported civil rights activists and defended sit-in protesters. He was a prominent activist through the 1960s with his CORE involvement, collaborating with Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael, and other black leaders to organize later parts of the March Against Fear.
Wade Hampton III of South Carolina, located in the Capitol Visitor Center. He was born into a particularly wealthy family with a notable political pedigree. His father was said to own more than 3,000 slaves (one of the largest amounts in the entire South), and when his father died, Hampton inherited his fortunes, plantations, and vast number of slaves. He was a key military leader in many of the critical battles of the war, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant general prior to the war's conclusion. Following the war, Hampton's slaves were freed and he became a proponent of the Lost Cause movement. Hampton became politically active again in 1876, having offered tacit support to the KKK and more explicit support for the Red Shirts, a collection of white terrorist groups acting as "the military arm of the Democratic Party" that used violence and intimidation to suppress the black vote and reclaim state control from Republicans. He defeated incumbent Republican Governor Daniel Chamberlain in the 1876 gubernatorial election, considered the bloodiest in state history (at least 150 black citizens were murdered). Hampton's election to the governorship, along with the election of Rutherford B. Hayes as president, marked the end of Reconstruction in the South.
James Brown would be an nice replacement. Known as the Godfather of Soul and the founding father of funk, Brown is considered one of the most influential singers of all time. His career spanned more than six decades with 16 number-one singles on the Hot 100 R&B charts and had a massive impact on many genres of music. He was also a major proponent of education and civil rights, devoting many songs to these causes such as "Don't Be a Drop-Out," "Killing Is Out, School Is In," and "Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud," all noted for their positive impacts and messages. Though he became very wealthy from his music, he devoted the bulk of his estate upon his death to the I Feel Good Inc. Trust to help disadvantaged children.
Robert E. Lee of Virginia, located in the Crypt. Lee is widely known for commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia from 1862 to 1865. During the first year of the war, he served as a senior military adviser to President Jefferson Davis, and in the final year of the war, Lee was promoted to general-in-chief of Confederate forces. While Lee insisted that he wanted the Union to remain and wanted to avoid war, he willingly chose to side with the Confederacy even as other major southern figures like Sam Houston refused to support the Confederacy. Following the war, he said he supported the ending of slavery as well as the education of black Southerners, but opposed giving them the right to vote. In his own words, "My own opinion is that, at this time, they cannot vote intelligently, and that giving them the [vote] would lead to a great deal of demagogism, and lead to embarrassments in various ways." He also wanted to deport newly freed black Americans from Virginia: "I think it would be better for Virginia if she could get rid of them. ... I think that everyone there would be willing to aid it." While it was not a war Lee chose or initially wanted, he was at the forefront of the Confederate war effort and undoubtedly caused more harm than good to the Union.
Arthur Ashe would be a welcome contribution. Ashe is recognized today as one of the greatest US tennis players of all time. With his mother having died when he was only seven, he and his brother were raised by their strict but caring father who stressed academic and athletic excellence. Ashe faced difficulty in his early years not being able to play with white players due to segregation, but he excelled in high school and college. He became a member of the ROTC and joined the Army in 1966; following the completion of his basic training, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Adjutant General Corps and was assigned to work as a data processor at the United States Military Academy at West Point (the same academy that Lee attended more than a century earlier). Ashe headed the academy's tennis program during his tenure, and was promoted to first lieutenant in 1968 before being discharged in 1969. Ashe went on to be the first black player selected for the United States Davis Cup team and remains the only black man to win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, or the Australia Open. He also campaigned for sanctions against South Africa, later joining a delegation of prominent black Americans who traveled to South Africa to support racial integration. Ashe suffered a heart attack in 1979, and after two heart surgeries, he seemed to be on the upswing. However, in 1988, Ashe was diagnosed with HIV due to a blood transfusion from his second heart surgery. This was revealed to the public in 1992, and in 1993, Ashe died from AIDS-related pneumonia. As the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame notes, "Arthur Ashe was certainly a hero to people of all ages and races, and his legacy continues to touch the lives of many today. For Arthur Ashe, tennis was a means to an end. Although he had a lucrative tennis career, it was always more than personal glory and individual accolades. He used his status as an elite tennis player to speak out against the moral inequalities that existed both in and out of the tennis world. Ashe sincerely wanted to bring about change in the world. What made him stand out was that he became a world champion along the way."
America has consistently faced great difficulty coming to terms with its original sin of slavery. The horrific legacy of this sin is still felt today in subtle (and not so subtle) ways for black Americans. Our US Capitol is a place of unity, and these people strayed from that purpose. Continuing to honor secessionists in the halls of a building committed to national unity and the democratic process is paradoxical. Continuing to honor racists and the direct beneficiaries of racism in our nation's capitol is immoral and contrary to all of the progress we have made as a country since its founding. Replacing these statues will help us move forward as a more united country committed to social justice and equality.