Tennessee panel votes to remove monument of KKK leader from state Capitol

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Source: The Hill

The Tennessee Historical Commission on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to support removing the bust of Ku Klux Klan leader and Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest from the state Capitol.

According to local media, the panel voted 25-1 to grant the waiver sought by the state Capitol Commission to have the bust transferred to the Tennessee State Museum.

The vote comes months after Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee called on the Capitol Commission to consider the placement of the bust as leaders in cities and states across the country moved to get rid of Confederate symbols in public spaces amid widespread protests against racial injustice and police brutality following the police killing of George Floyd.

While Lee said in remarks at the time that Forrest, who was born in Tennessee, was a "renowned military tactician" and was part of the state's history, he also acknowledged the former commander's "disturbing track record."

Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/tennessee-panel-votes-to-remove-monument-of-kkk-leader-from-state-capitol/ar-BB1eqcIE?li=BBnbfcQ&ocid=DELLDHP

[redstateblues]

1. Thank God! It should have come down long time ago

The guy was a butcher-conducted a massacre.

[Xipe Totec]

2. Run Forrest!

[Lars39]

3. Wish they'd rename the state park named after him.

[IronLionZion]

4. He massacred 300 black Union soldiers at Fort Pillow

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Pillow

For the people who want to erase history but keep statues to honor these types of mass murderers.

[AZ8theist]

5. Surprising.

The current Repuke Party is EMBRACING bigotry, racism and hatred by the bucket full. No more whistles...only LOUD HORNS.

Surprising they didn't announce a state holiday to honor the KKK.

[rpannier]

6. disturbing track record

That's like saying Jeffrey Dahmer had a disturbing diet

[Evolve Dammit]

7. Good. About fucking time.

[eppur_se_muova]

8. Holy crap, I wasn't expecting it to be Forrest.

I mean, he's so notorious you'd think someone would have picked up on that earlier.

[NellieStarbuck]

9. Good! Native Memphian here.

Thrilled when Memphis took down the Forrest statue. Happy Tennessee is doing so, as well. Baby steps.

[WarGamer]

10. As an avid enthusiast of Military History...

(I'm happy the monument is being moved to a museum, the proper place)

It's frequently necessary to look past the personal traits to analyze a historical figure.

How can you analyze Rommel, Zhukov or Yamamoto if you focus on the person, their boss or their Party affiliation?

Should we preface any discussion of Napoleon with discussion about the Siege of Jaffra and the 4000 dead POW's? Or the brutal repression in Haiti?

Or Genghis Khan?

No. We learn to analyze the performance of the military leader, whether it's Rommel, Forrest, Lee, Grant or Stuart.

Forrest is arguably the most influential military leader of the 19th AND 20th Century. Heinz Guderian and other architects of the Blitzkrieg credited Forrest. Post WW2 US military tactics borrowed heavily from the Forrest playbook. Forrest tactics were taught at the US Army War College and West Point well into the 1980's... Patton wrote about Forrest.

Yes, a slave trading racist and a traitor... but a remarkable soldier and leader.

Fact: one of only two people in the USCW to rise from Private to General during the war.

And killed 30 men in hand to hand combat. I can't think of another military figure in the 19th or 20th Century to have done such.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. He was a fucking traitor and racist

and there was nothing "remarkable" about him except that his legacy and viewpoint survives to this day, tormenting later generations whose ancestors suffered, either directly, or from those who worshiped him. This glorification of him is craven.

And expectantly, due to this sort of legacy of white supremacy as promoted by Forrest, the lack of historical teaching here in the U.S. about the continent of Africa, continues to be breathtaking, and is obvious in this admission -

I can't think of another military figure in the 19th or 20th Century to have done such.

There was a miniseries (I have the DVD). Condensed version -

But we know Africa is the "dark continent".

[llashram]

11. one step in the

right direction. Now if we could just get rid of his racist organization that had hundreds on January 6 2021 trying to start Confederacy 2.0.

[TNNurse]

13. I as a native of GA and great great granddaughter

of a Confederate soldier who now lives in TN, am sorry that Bill Lee exists. He is a terrible governor and knew he would be when we did not vote for him.

Saying someone who fought against this country in a war as having a "disturbing track record" is just wrong in every way.

[Nash Teeth]

14. MTSU's ROTC building is named for Forrest

It's a symbol of POC's oppression in students' faces every day.