Nathan Bedford Forrest
As the debate over Confederate statues and monuments heats up across the country and in Memphis, it is intensifying in the state’s capital as well.
The Tennessee Capitol Commission voted Friday 7 to 5 in favor of not acting to remove a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest from the state Capitol.
This comes even after Gov. Bill Haslam encouraged the commission to act, releasing a statement supporting the removal of the Forrest bust and its relocation. “Forrest should not be one of the individuals we honor at the Capitol,” Haslam said in a statement.
The motion to request a waiver for the bust’s removal and relocation to the Tennessee State Museum was made by the chair of the commission, Larry Martin, while the vote included several state officials, lawmakers, and individual citizens.
Among those who voted in favor of the bust remaining at the Capitol was state treasurer David Lillard who says he believes the bust and other artifacts like it should be displayed at the Capitol for historical purposes.