Wed Sep 25 07:57:16 UTC 2024: ## Johnny Cash Statue Replaces Segregationist Figure in U.S. Capitol

**WASHINGTON, D.C.** – The U.S. Capitol now boasts a new statue of country music icon Johnny Cash, replacing a figure associated with segregation. The bronze statue, depicting Cash with a guitar and a Bible, was unveiled on September 24th, with hundreds of Cash family members in attendance.

The move to replace the statue of James Clarke, a known segregationist, was spearheaded by former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. He argued that Clarke and the other statue representing Arkansas, of Confederate sympathizer Uriah Rose, didn’t reflect the state’s modern values.

“We wanted to showcase a modern representation of Arkansas,” Hutchinson said. “And that’s Daisy Bates, who guided the Little Rock Nine and the desegregation of Central High School, and Johnny Cash.”

Cash historian Mark Stielper, a close friend of the singer, emphasized that Cash’s selection wasn’t just about his musical achievements. “He was an early pioneer in singing about the injustices done to Native Americans,” Stielper said. “He sang at prisons, he got up there and sang of the poor and the beaten down.”

The statue of Cash stands as a testament to his enduring legacy and his commitment to social justice. His daughter, Rosanne Cash, described him as “a man of wonderful contradictions” who “opposed the war in Vietnam” and “performed for Nixon at the White House” while refusing to sing songs that denigrated the poor.

The Johnny Cash statue is a powerful symbol of progress in the U.S. Capitol, replacing outdated figures with those who represent the nation’s evolving values of inclusion and justice.

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