Gov. Beshear shows real leadership

Hooray for our Governor! Like everywhere else, the virus is spreading more in Kentucky. I think Mr. Beshear is a hero. He is brave enough and caring enough to mandate face masks for the good of all of us regardless of all the complaints and criticism he is going to get from the people who dont care enough for other people especially caring for our frontline medical workers.

There is no doubt that face masks slow down the spread of the virus. My daughter is a nurse at the hospital. For every additional virus case admitted to the hospital my daughter is in more danger. From a concerned father, thank you Gov. Beshear.

This years fireworks were a blast

The fireworks display this year was exceptional, and the locations were well-placed. My family enjoyed the show and not fighting the crowd at the river.

Hopefully they will do this in the future.

A Henson statue wouldnt accurately depict slaves struggles

In a recent Readers Write, James Goodall presented an option for the dilemma of the statue on the courthouse lawn honoring Confederate heroes erect a statue honoring Josiah Henson to represent the other side. Henson is worthy of honor; he was heroic by any definition. But a statue of Henson would not represent the other side of our shared history that continues to this day to tear us apart.

Henson was heroic, but he doesnt represent the reality of most slaves he got away. Perhaps if we truly want to depict the other side, we should erect a statue depicting a mother being torn away from her child, or a man, back stripped bare, bearing the stripes of a brutal beating.

It is often argued that Southern states made war against Americans over the issue of states rights. What is omitted is that the actual question was whether the federal government could ban slavery, or if individual states had the right to make that decision.

This argument implies that the decision to own human beings was a legitimate choice for states to make. It was and is not. It is morally indefensible.

If the purpose of the statue is to teach history, it fails miserably by not telling the whole story. If it is there to honor some Daviess Countians, it does so at the cost of erasing the history of other Daviess Countians. At the seat of our government, this is a price too high to pay.

More empathy is needed when it comes to courthouse statue

I would urge the county government to have more empathy for the Black population of our county. A statue that causes pain for a segment of our community should not be on public property.

I am sure when the statue was placed there, Black people were not consulted. But this is 2020. I think the time has come to remove it, and I do not understand why the decision is difficult for some of our county commissioners.

Let the people invested in the statue put it somewhere that they can appreciate it. Just not on public property.

Move us forward by removing Confederate statue

This long journey of working toward social equality within our community is a daunting, worthwhile effort.

This has been the longevity of my adult life, and in 2020 the necessity of continuing the fight is as relevant today as it was in the 1960s. I was on the right side of history then, and as we are creating our history fighting injustices today, I will be on the right side of history again taking a stand for righteousness and justice for all.

Although much progress has been gained, there are still reminders of institutionalized racism and racial bias woven into the fabric of our country. Many times, as a community, our solution is to ignore or place a Band Aid upon the racial unrest.

One such reminder is the Confederate statue on the courthouse lawn. It stands as a symbol of a dark past in our community and our country. It serves as a constant reminder that the Civil War is still being fought through the ideals of the Confederacy written upon the hearts and minds of our community. There is a constant push and pull of history versus heritage, unity versus racism and love versus hate.

It is time for us to stop the push and pull. It is time for us to stand against racism and all its symbols of racism within our community. Move us forward by removing the Confederate statue from the courthouse lawn.

Statue sits on lawn of courthouse that Confederates once burned down

The statue of a Confederate soldier on the southwest corner of the Daviess County Courthouse lawn is privately owned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The property the statue sits on is public property, in a sense, owned by the taxpaying citizens of Daviess County.

The decision as to what, if any, private object can sit on this public property is up to the owners of the land, the taxpaying citizens of Daviess County. Also, this is a year in which the Confederate flag has been banned nationwide. From sporting events to state capitols, the flag has been taken down. But did you know that on the granite stone base on which the statue of the confederate soldier sits, there is a depiction of the National Flag of the Confederacy etched in stone?

Since Daviess County came into existence in 1815, there have been five courthouses. We are currently using courthouse No. 5. On Jan. 4, 1865, Confederate raiders passing though Owensboro burned down Daviess County courthouse No. 3. It is ironic that only 35 years after that event, a statue of a Confederate soldier was erected just a few feet away from where Confederate raiders burned down that courthouse.

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Readers Write: July 12, 2020 | Letters To The Editor | messenger-inquirer.com - messenger-inquirer