HASLAM SHOULD VETO DIVISIVE HERITAGE ACT
After the tragedy in Charleston last summer, there were renewed calls across the South to remove endorsements of the Confederacy from shared, public space. Gov. Haslam broke with some members of his own party and joined leaders like Gov. Nikki Haley. According to media reports, he said that the “Confederate battle flag is something people are ready to see moved to museums.” When it comes to Nathan Bedford Forrest, who has become an enduring and controversial symbol of the Confederacy, Haslam has said that Forrest “would not be one of the Tennesseans I would honor.”
Unfortunately, with the recent passage of the Heritage Protection Act, among other acts of the Tennessee Assembly, it looks like we are not winning the war for tolerance and diversity in the Tennessee legislature.
The Heritage Protection Act, which was approved by the Senate 28-4, the House 71-23, and currently sits on the governor’s desk, makes it extremely difficult for local communities to remove Confederate symbols, like memorials to Nathan Bedford Forrest, from the public landscape.
Even as Tennessee communities grow and change, build roads to alleviate traffic, expand neighborhoods to accommodate families, they will have to do it all without disturbing anything that has to do with the Confederacy or the Civil War.
Keep in mind that right now in Tennessee there are more memorials for Nathan Bedford Forrest than there are for Andrew Jackson, James Polk, and Andrew Johnson, the three U.S. presidents from Tennessee, combined. In fact, we already have more honors for Forrest than any other state has for any other person. We have more historic markers for Forrest than Virginia has for General Robert E. Lee. We have more honors for Forrest than Illinois has for President Abraham Lincoln.
Of course, many of these statutes, busts, and memorials were put up in the early 1900s, during the high point of the KKK in America. The rest were put in the 1960s and the 1970s during which the Supreme Court was ordering integration in the South. They were put up partly as an expression of resistance to diversity and integration.
The effort to make these honors permanent ignites more controversy than it’s worth.
Problem is, the Heritage Protection Act’s passage is not the only troubling sign that we have not been able to move on and embrace the current diversity of our state.
Also this month in our legislature, diversity efforts at our public colleges and universities have come under attack. It appears the state senate education committee is poised to defund the office of diversity programming at UT Knoxville. And, we can expect another big fight in the legislature over the Tennessee Economic Woman on Council, which when the dust settles, may soon cease to exist.
Even worse are the troubling national trends, which also probably contribute to the environment in our state. The presidential election has been chock-full of divisiveness, with Donald Trump, the leading Republican candidate, running in part on a platform of racial tension and hate. He easily won the primary in Tennessee.
The good news is that some leading figures, including leading Republicans, have confronted Trump’s efforts to divide along racial lines. Speaker of the U.S. House Paul Ryan, for instance, said “If a person wants to be the nominee of the Republican Party… they must reject any group or cause that is built on bigotry.”
In Tennessee Gov. Haslam showed leadership just last week by making the case for why he might not support Trump if he becomes the Republican nominee.
These statements, particularly those from the governor, are commendable. They are a signal that some leaders rightly understand that Tennessee is a diverse state and that tolerance is important.
I hope the governor’s leadership continues with respect to the recently approved so-called Heritage Protection Act.
After the Charleston attack and the Trump platform, the timing of Tennessee’s new act could not have been more inopportune.
The governor should veto this bill. Although Gov. Haslam is not in charge of the legislative branch, what he thinks and says matters a great deal. If he were to oppose the Heritage Protection Act it would send a positive signal to Tennesseans about the importance of tolerance.
Although the legislature could overturn his veto, Haslam’s actions and his leadership are still important. It doesn’t matter whether the governor’s veto stands or not. His opposition would be an important reminder to Tennesseans about the importance of tolerance in an election year when it’s sorely needed.
State Sen. Lee Harris represents District 29 in Memphis and serves as Senate minority leader: Follow him on Twitter @LeeHarris4MTOWN. State Sen. Jeff Yarbro represents District 21 in Nashville and is Senate Democratic Caucus chairman.