'I thought it was very nice': VA official showcased portrait of KKK's first grand wizard

[DonViejo]

David J. Thomas Sr., deputy executive director of VA’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, said he removed this painting from his office after learning that its subject, Nathan Bedford Forrest, was a Confederate general and slave trader who was later the Ku Klux Klan’s first figurehead. (Courtesy of John Rigby)

By Lisa Rein October 23 at 4:44 PM

A senior official at the Department of Veterans Affairs said he removed a portrait of the Ku Klux Klan’s first grand wizard from his Washington, D.C., office after offended employees began signing a petition to present to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie.

David J. Thomas Sr. is deputy executive director of VA’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, which certifies veteran-owned businesses seeking government contracts. His senior staff is mostly African American.

Thomas said he took down the painting Monday after a Washington Post reporter explained that its subject, Nathan Bedford Forrest, was a Confederate general and slave trader who became the KKK’s first figure­head in 1868. He said he was unaware of Forrest’s affiliation with the hate group, which formed after the Civil War to maintain white control over newly freed blacks through violence and intimidation.

A basic Google search of Forrest’s name returns various biographies detailing his role in the Confederacy and the white-supremacist strains of its aftermath.

“It was just a beautiful print that I had purchased, and I thought it was very nice,” Thomas said. He said he knew of Forrest only “as a Southern general in the Civil War” and kept the portrait in his basement before decorating a new and larger office at VA’s administrative headquarters a few months ago.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/i-thought-it-was-very-nice-va-official-showcased-portrait-of-kkks-first-grand-wizard/2018/10/23/f49434ca-d6c0-11e8-aeb7-ddcad4a0a54e_story.html

[Lithos]

1. He also saw his way

And helped destroy the first iteration of the KKK.

That said, I can surely bet that's not why David J. Thomas bought the painting...

L-

[MyOwnPeace]

2. But, but....

We’re getting only the best, right?

[MagickMuffin]

3. With the caption "No Surrender"

Very Nice, indeed!

Racist. . . .maybe you and Megan Kelly can dress in black face for Halloween!!!

[gratuitous]

4. Aw, he had to take it down?

Maybe Mr. Thomas has a nice portrait of Hermann Goering he can put up in its place.

[bobbieinok]

5. John Ringo. Sci fiction author, praises/venerates Forrest in many of his books.