While the country debates renaming military bases and statues of Confederate generals are decapitated and drowned by protestors, the state of Tennessee is sticking with Confederate General and KKK Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forrest.
On Tuesday, the Tennessee House Naming, Designating and Private Acts Committee voted 11-5 to keep the bust of the notorious slave trader on display in the in the state capital building. The vote was on party lines, with all Republicans in favor of honoring their “heritage” with a monument to the military commander who brutally massacred 300 mostly African American Union troops who had surrendered at Fort Pillow in 1864.
But the Klansman is not without his supporters.
“It was not against the law to own slaves back then,” Rep. Jerry Sexton (R-Bean Station, no seriously) said yesterday. “Who knows, maybe some of us will be slaves one of these days. Laws change.”
Will we have slavery in the United States of America? WHO KNOWS.
Rep. Mike Stewart (D-Nashville), an actual lawyer, reacted strongly to his colleague’s comments.
“I think everybody was just astonished because it just was totally at odds with the very poignant testimony by the sponsor of the bill about how burdensome the legacy of slavery is,” he told local NBC-affiliate WSMV. “The remark is more broadly reflective of the attitude that has left that bust in place.”
Sen. Raumesh Akbari, (D-Memphis) was more blunt.
“Made his fortune on the selling of bodies, selling Black folks like we were tractors. We were considered 3/5th a person. I want ya’ll to understand what that means and what that feels like to then have someone like that be honored,” she said.
Protestors gathered at the statehouse after the vote for a movement called “I Will Breathe,” which plans to seek signatures for a petition to the governor.
In fact, the bust was only put up in 1978 to counterbalance a recently-installed statue of Union Admiral David “Damn the torpedoes” Farragut. Like most Confederate memorials, it was erected long after the Civil War during a period of civil rights expansion and African American enfranchisement. The statue of a KKK hero wasn’t a history lesson — it was reminder of who holds real power. And it still is.
But the Klan figure did suffer one minor defeat this week. Current Tennessee law requires the governor to sign a proclamation honoring his birthday. A bill making that proclamation voluntary was approved by the Tennessee Senate and passed out of the House Naming, Designating and Private Acts Committee by a one-vote margin. If the full chamber approves the measure and Governor Bill Lee signs it, he and his successors will have the right to choose whether to honor a brutal slave trader and symbol of organized racism, or not.
It was the least they could do. Literally.
Protesters want Nathan Bedford Forrest bust removed from Tennessee State Capitol [WSMV]
Bid to remove Nathan Bedford Forrest bust from state Capitol fails in House committee [WBIR]
Elizabeth Dye (@5DollarFeminist) lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.