Jefferson Davis: Diversity Dad

Biloxi, Mississippi

In 2008 the Sons of Confederate Veterans were upset that a statue of President Lincoln and his son, Tad, had been erected at the American Civil War Center in the former Confederate capitol of Richmond, Virginia. The SCV hired sculptor Gary Casteel to make a statue of the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, and his son, Joseph, and -- to one-up old Abe -- a mulatto enslaved boy named "Jim Limber." The SCV said that their statue should be placed next to Abe and Tad's. The American Civil War Center said no thanks. So in 2009 the statue was moved to a permanent spot on the lawn of Davis's former home in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The statue shows Davis in a protective, fatherly pose, hinting at no favoritism between his biological son and the little enslaved boy, who was recused from a beating by Davis's wife and eventually freed by Davis. Critics nevertheless blasted the statue as a mawkish attempt at revisionist history, noting that Jim Limber's time with the Davis family lasted only a few months, and that neither made an effort to revive the relationship after they were separated.

It's also pointed out that Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, led a war to, you know, defend racial slavery.