Florida school board votes to remove name of Confederate general

[paleotn]

35. He was a traitor to this country....

... and does not deserve to EVER be honored in having ANY state or federal facilities named after him. In the teamsters incident you mention, he was only being pragmatic. It certainly wasn't because he felt that slavery was morally contemptible. It made him extremely wealthy. And don't give me this "well everyone did it" crap. Many felt slavery was a moral stain on this country since before the founding of the republic. He WAS NOT one of the first to free slaves. Freedom had been granted to slaves for all sorts of reasons, dating back to early colonial times.

Forrest was a bigot, an immoral blow hard, and a butcher. He could have stopped the Ft. Pillow massacre, but chose not to, since I suppose that wouldn't have been as pragmatic as freeing a few teamsters. And some choice those teamsters had. They received their freedom, but as part of the bargain are forced to materially support with their labor the cause of maintaining black slavery. Sounds like a deal with the devil and that's exactly what Forrest was.

And before you label me as some northerner, my southern roots stretch back to when NC was a backwater colony and TN and KY were serious wilderness. I am a member of several TN first families and in 1861 many of my ancestors felt just as I do. They understood that slavery was morally wrong on its face and the secessionists in Raleigh and Nashville were nothing but damn, greedy fools.