Trigger Warning: Unpleasant History — University of Texas to Move Statue of Jefferson Davis

The purge of controversial statues and symbols continues, this time at the University of Texas at Austin. Jefferson Davis is being moved to a museum. In his statement announcing the decision, UT-Austin president Gregory Fenves noted that his statue — one of six along the Main Mall — had “long been a source of discussion, debate, and more recently controversy.” And while other Confederate statues at the display were permitted to stay (notably Albert Sidney Johnston and Robert E. Lee), Davis had to go inside:

I have decided that the best location for the Jefferson Davis statue is UT’s Briscoe Center for American History. While every historical figure leaves a mixed legacy, I believe Jefferson Davis is in a separate category, and that it is not in the university’s best interest to continue commemorating him on our Main Mall. Davis had few ties to Texas; he played a unique role in the history of the American South that is best explained and understood through an educational exhibit.

Interestingly, because of the symmetry of the statues, Woodrow Wilson is a partial casualty of the move:

[W]e will relocate the statue of President Woodrow Wilson, which stands opposite the statue of Davis, to an appropriate exterior location on campus. The Davis statue will be refurbished for interior display while its site at the Briscoe Center is prepared.

Will someone just go ahead and publish the definitive, social justice warrior-approved guide to historical displays? Because until they do, university presidents, liberal city councils, senate majority leaders, and other PC-influenced people will keep tying themselves in knots trying to properly place symbols of our national past. As it is, they’re left with justifying keeping some Confederates in place while moving another by referencing their identity-politics street cred. Here’s Fenves again:

Symbols are important, but we must also press ahead to create substantive change at the university. We have made progress in recent years — by the creation of new departments of African American and African Diaspora Studies and Mexican American and Latina/o Studies, and in student and faculty recruitment. We continue to defend the use of race and ethnicity as factors among many in a holistic review of applicants, consistent with U.S. Supreme Court precedents. But much remains to be done. I pledge to continue the work of making UT Austin a leader in both excellence and diversity and fostering an inclusive environment.

Translation: Don’t hate me for keeping Lee and Johnston up. After all, I’m pushing the Constitution to the breaking point to protect affirmative action.

The proper way to deal with difficult history is with education, not with demolition and not even with punitive relocation. Otherwise, social justice warriors can play this game all day — all decade — long. But perhaps that’s the point — to constantly test the boundaries, shaping and reshaping our national narrative until our history — and, consequently, our future — are PC-approved.