Tennessee lawmakers vote to remove bust of former KKK leader Nathan Bedford Forrest from state Capitol
Tennessee lawmakers have voted to remove a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, and two other Confederate leaders from the state Capitol building.
Since 1978 when the bust was installed, many Tennesseans have protested for the removal of the sculpted head of the Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader.
Despite his opposition to its removal in 2018, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee recently endorsed the idea of the bust’s removal. He previously said that “the Ku Klux Klan is a part of our history that we’re not proud of in Tennessee, and we need to be reminded of that.”
On Thursday, members of the seven-member State Building Commission voted 5-2 in favor of removing the bust.
“Much like this bust symbolizes the pain and suffering of slavery and terror, removing the likeness of Nathan Bedford Forrest from a place of honor in Tennessee’s Capitol is a symbol for much needed reconciliation,” said Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Black Memphis lawmaker who joined with her Black legislative caucus colleagues in opposition to the bust.
“No doubt we have work to do to achieve equality and justice for all people, but today’s vote shows that progress is possible,” she added.
Earlier in the year, the Tennessee Historical Commission voted 25-1 to move the three busts to the state museum from the Capitol, arguing that the museum would offer better historical context, according to Newsweek.
Despite the relative bipartisan approval of the removal, some of the Tennessee Statehouse’s top Republican leaders expressed displeasure with the outcome of the vote.
“No one is arguing that Forrest is not a problematic figure. He is. But there is more to his story. His life eventually followed a redemptive arc which I hope is outlined in great detail in our state museum,” said Senate Speaker Randy McNally. He added that he believes activists will find another statue to “demand that we again kneel at the altar of political correctness.”
Forrest was a well-known cavalry general for the Confederacy during the Civil War. Before the war, he amassed a great deal of wealth thanks to his plantation and for being a dealer in the slave trade in Memphis. After the South’s defeat, he became leader of the Ku Klux Klan and was one of the many angry southerners in the Reconstruction era that terrorized newly-freed Black people in the south.
