Haslam disappointed in Forrest bust decision
Gov. Bill Haslam said Tuesday he was disappointed with the State Capitol Commission’s rejection of a plan to relocate the controversial bust of Confederate general and slave trader Nathan Bedford Forrest from the statehouse to the state museum.
“I was very disappointed,” Haslam said at an event in Brentwood,
Tenn. “I was really clear. If we are going to honor a limited number of Tennesseans in the Capitol, Forrest should not be in that list.
I think beyond that there [are] some other sensitivities that we want to project as a state that aren’t recognized.”
The commission on Friday voted 7-5 against seeking a waiver from the Tennessee Historical Commission to remove the bust. The General Assembly could take up the measure separately.
Among those who voted to reject the waiver request were Secretary of State Tre Hargett, state Treasurer David Lillard and Comptroller Justin Wilson — all three are elected by the Legislature.
Forrest, a slave trader before the Civil War, rose from a private to a general, famously led cavalry during the war and was responsible for the massacre of hundreds of black soldiers after they surrendered at Fort Pillow. Forrest was the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
Defenders of the bust in the Capitol say it commemorates the native Tennessean’s role as a general for the Confederacy and removing it would be ignoring history. They also say that after leaving the KKK, Forrest advocated for civil rights.
Some members of the state panel, including Wilson, said the decision on the bust should be left up to the state legislature, and Lillard suggested Forrest’s bust could be one of several fig-
ures that rotate in and out of the Capitol.
The governor said Tuesday he understands people who ask “Where is this going to stop?” But, those who are honored in the Capitol should be individuals the majority of Tennesseans agree should be there.
Haslam said Lillard’s suggestion of rotating figures to honor through the Capitol has some merit, but that he could see a lot of disagreement over who those people should be.
The governor also said that with the heightened debate over Confederate statues in Memphis and the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death in April, he could see the statewide debate gain national prominence.
“I don’t think it’s a state where we can say, ‘Well we dealt with that, and we are going on,’” he said.
Reporter Joel Ebert contributed to this story.
Contact reporter Jordan Buie at 615-726-5970 or by email at jbuie@tennessean. com. Follow him on Twitter @jordanbuie.