The legislature of the state of Mississippi is debating a bill regarding whether or not they should accept a statue of Jefferson Davis to be displayed somewhere on the statehouse grounds. The statue, which cost in excess of $100,000, is a gift from the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The acceptance of such a gift would hardly break new ground, as Jefferson Davis is memorialized in many capitols across the South but not yet in Mississippi.

     The debate of whether the acceptance of the gift is “politically correct” is particularly ironic because before serving as the President of the Confederate States of America, Davis was a popular U.S. Senator from the state of Mississippi. A graduate of West Point, Davis also served in the Mexican War and was afterwards offered a Federal commission as a brigadier general of the militia by President James K. Polk. He declined the commission on the ground that the Constitution of the United States specifies that states are to appoint militia officers and that this was not the province of the federal government. After serving the Confederacy, eventually retired to his beloved Mississippi and lived out his days at Beauvoir near Biloxi.

     Unfortunately, the chances of this statue finding a home in the capitol of the state that Jeff Davis served are slim. The Senate has already passed a version of the bill that restores a Confederate monument that is already in place at the capitol but makes no provision for the placement of the statue. The rejection of this gift will leave the SCV continuing to try to find a home for a statue of a man whose legacy of service extends far beyond just the CSA. It is a sad day when our state governments would refuse a freely given gift that memorializes someone who sacrificed so much fighting to retain the constitutionally given rights and privileges their predecessors previously enjoyed.