MEMPHIS, Tenn. — In tonight’s Ransom Note: while Memphis found a way to remove its statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest, removing a bust in his honor at the state capitol, is taking a little longer.
By now you know Forrest was a Confederate war general, a slave trader, and a founder of the Ku Klux Klan.
Don’t forget, Forrest was in command at Ft Pillow when some 300 Black Union soldiers were killed as they were surrendering.
Governors Lee, and Haslam before him, have both advocated moving the bronze bust to a state museum.
Then just last week, the state historical commission voted 25-1 to make that happen. Now for a moment, it seemed like the day might be getting closer for its removal.
But now two state Republican lawmakers Rep John Ragan of Oak Ridge and Senator Joey Hensley of Hohenwald want lawmakers, not the Governor, to appoint most positions on that commission. And if Governor Lee were to remove the bust anyway, it would be a impeachable offense.
Wow. Impeach their own Republican Governor all because of a bust in the capitol? Really?
Critics say from the day it was first installed in 1978 and placed at one of the most prominent spots in the capitol by the House and Senate Chambers, it was meant as a middle finger to the Civil Rights Movement.
After what lawmakers Ragan and Hensley are doing more than forty years later, it’s hard to disagree.
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