Tennessee officials will shift a Capitol bust that honors Nathan Forrest, an enslaver, Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader. Through special voting, the State Building Commission (SBC) accepted the proposals to shift the statues of Forrest, Admiral Albert Gleaves, and Admiral David Farragut to the Nashville-based Tennessee State Museum. Tennessee Governor William Byron Lee was among the ones who voted for the move. Lee has been having a different stance about the matter since 2018, when he stated that the bust should stay in its Capitol position.
A Bill Lee spokesperson told Nashville Scene that the preparations for the move would start on July 26, 2021, and that the bust would be removed four days later.
Senator Randy McNally and Member of the Tennessee House of Representatives Cameron Sexton were the commissioners who voted against the bust removal. Many times, they have tried to prevent any attempt to remove the statue of the man. However, the votes of white men, including Governor Lee, were more than enough to render the opposition from the two legislative leaders ineffective. As per historians, Forrest led the Confederate troops who massacred hundreds of surrendered Union soldiers at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.
As for McNally, Forrest’s life followed an arc of redemption, even though he was a problematic Klan leader. McNally also expects that the state constitutional officers and governor would stand with him next time around, as further fights are approaching.
On the other hand, Sexton stated that the state legislature would look to revise present legislation to include an even bigger voice of the people elected. About Forrest, Sexton said that attempting to judge earlier generations’ deeds based on the growth of societies and present values is counterproductive. Therefore, people like Sexton would be unwilling to do so.
African-American legislators celebrated the move. Representative Harold Love described the day of the decision as a tremendous one for Tennessee. His father Harold Moses Love Sr. was among the members of the state legislature at the time the statue was installed in the Tennessee Capitol building.
Member of Tennessee House of Representatives Karen Camper appreciated the state governor for his change of mind about the matter. Camper said that Lee has made a courageous and conscious choice to proceed with what people wanted instead of politicizing the issue. Camper also stated that she figured that McNally and Sexton were paying heed to the wishes of their fellow Republicans. As for Camper, both could have been courageous enough to admit that this was the best move for the state.
Justin Jones, an activist from Nashville, who was once arrested as a protestor demanding the statue be removed from the building, was not just as fast in praising Lee. Jones attributed the decision to people power instead of an act of kindness from Lee. By people power, Jones was referring to the ones who visited the Capitol area and demanded for years to have the bust removed. As for Jones, it was the heat of a political movement that forced Governor Lee to change his stance on the matter.