Wlaf1450JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF) – It seemed like a good idea at the time. After all, Campbell County is a stronghold of Republican voters, MAGA caps and Confederate flags flapping from pickup beds. Watch the December county commission meeting HERE on demand.
Given this, Commissioner Ralph Davis thought it would be a nice gesture to introduce a resolution for Campbell County to offer to take all of those discarded monuments and statues being removed from public display around the country. Those monuments range from Christopher Columbus, removed in New York because he oppressed Native Americans, to Andy Jackson, demonized because he was President during the Cherokee Trail of Tears to various Confederate heroes such as Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis or Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Most other county commissioners at Monday night’s meeting appear to have agreed with Davis. His motion passed with only one “no” vote from Scott Kitts and two abstentions by Sue Nance and Tyler King.
After the meeting, Davis became aware of one small hitch to the idea – practically everyone from Campbell County who is descended from a Civil War veteran is descended from a veteran of the Union Army, not the Confederacy. In fact, Campbell County’s Republican roots trace back to the party of Abraham Lincoln because the county was overwhelmingly anti-Confederate.
Oops! Commissioner Davis appears to be man enough to know when he’s made a mistake. On Wednesday, Davis sent a news flash to local media, announcing that he has contacted Mayor E. L. Morton and Chairman Johnny Bruce and asked them to “veto his motion to create a museum for removed statues.”
“My intention was never for this to be what it was,” Davis said in a phone call on Wednesday. “I want to apologize for the hardship that it’s brought to anybody, and I want to apologize on behalf of the commissioners. It was not (my intent) to bring turmoil to this county.”
Davis added that he will ask the commission at their January meeting to officially vote on a retraction in support of the veto. WLAF is researching a list of Civil War veterans from Campbell County who fought for the Union and will present it to viewers when it is completed. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED – 12/23/2021-6AM)
It was a good idea; it still is a good idea. I was proud to be living in a County that had the spirited initiative to step forward and lend aid to our Country for the good of the common man. Campbell County has descendents of the Union Army, and yes, we also have pick-ups flying the Confederate flag but we all get along. All this is part of this Country’s history which we should embrace, not run from. We should try and preserve these statues and be a model County for America. History needs to be saved so these mistakes are not repeated.
Well put Deborah Fitton