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Nashville Statue Continues to Create
Controversy
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Considered by many the most brilliant cavalryman of
the Civil War, Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877) is still exciting
controversy in his home state of Tennessee, and particularly in Nashville.
On July 11, 1998, a new statue honoring Forrest was unveiled in a private
confederate flag park. It can be seen along Interstate 65, just north of
Brentwood. The citizens of Nashville responded in characteristically mixed
fashion to the unveiling. Some have spoken out adamantly in favor of the
statue; others have descried it as homage to a brute. The mixed response
provoked by the statue is not unique to contemporary times. As far back as
the Civil War, Tennesseans were divided in their loyalties to the
Confederacy. The state of Tennessee supplied 100,000 men to the Southern
Army, more than any other state. However, it also supplied 50,000 men to the
Union Army, more than nine northern states.
The Black Perspective on Forrest is tainted at best.
What do blacks believe about Nathan Bedford Forrest? One historian labeled
him, "the clear, unfettered genius of the Civil War." Some politically
correct blacks see him as a racist monster, responsible for the massacre of
blacks at Fort Pillow on April 30, 1864. Exponents of this
belief have never checked the records but instead rely upon a newspaper
article written over 1000 miles away in the New York papers quoting sources
"first hand" when the reporter had never visited or examined the site nor
talked to survivors of the battle. Further tainting the black
view is the opinion on the other hand, that Forrest helped start the
organization known as the KKK and served as its head from 1867-1869.
Never have these diehard politically correct vendors of Forrest hatred
examined the records to find that Forrest was opposed to KKK activity
fostered after his 1869 departure from the group.
The general white American historian of today has
a clearer picture based on written and proven evidence. They
have concluded that Forrest never asked his soldiers to go where he wouldn't
go himself. It is noted that he had 29 horses shot out from
under him, because he was always near the front in every one of his famous
"charges." He entered the Confederate forces a private and left
it a general.
Perhaps because he is such a figure of controversy,
Forrest excites the imaginations of many Americans. Baltimore Sun columnist
Gregory Kane composed a recent Fourth of July list of the most fascinating
Americans. He put Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King,
Jr. in the top three spots. Guess who was in spot number ten? That's
right--Nathan Bedford Forrest. And the columnist who compiled the top ten
list is African American.
The tragedy of the discussion on
Forrest is that pre-conceived and erroneous information molds the public to
build racist and cultural hatreds because the public doesn't pursue the
facts to find real answers. |
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Forrest in Winter
Nathan Bedford
Forrest Statue Still Rules in Confederate Park at Memphis
As offensive as the statue was to many
African Americans in Memphis, the statue still stands a year later.
The determination of the Memphis City Council to remove the statue ran into
legal complications.
On June 9th, 2005 a public hearing was held by the Center City
Commission (CCC) of Memphis to hear all sides concerning CCC Board member
Walter Bailey’s proposed renaming of Nathan Bedford Forrest Park,
Confederate Park, and Jefferson Davis Park in downtown Memphis. Bailey cited
the parks’ Confederate theme as being too painful for blacks to bear and for
being a blight on Memphis.
The hearing consisted of around 100 to 200, mostly Forrest supporters,
who opposed changing the names of the parks and around a dozen, all black,
who favored removing all symbols of Southern history from the parks. The
hearing quickly polarized along racial lines when Reverend Jennings Bernard
stated that Black Memphians would remove the symbols of White Southern
heritage “by any means necessary”, a quote made famous by Black Nationalist
leader Malcolm X.
Former Asheville, North Carolina NAACP President H. K. Edgerton was
the lone black supporter of keeping the parks’ names. "How can you move
forward if you don't know where you came from how can you get any place,"
said Edgerton. Edgerton is one of the most recognized Confederate heritage
defenders and is most famous for walking all the way from Asheville to
Austin, Texas, in a Confederate uniform with a Confederate flag, to stir
pride and raise money for Southern Patriotic causes.
James Edwards, co-host of the syndicated radio show
The Political Cesspool,
said "A man like Walter Bailey who would call a meeting like this is really
a civil rights hustler". Edwards continued to blast the farcical banana
republic sideshow on his radio show along with his co-host, Austin Farley.
There will most likely be more town hall meetings regarding this issue
before it comes to a vote by the CCC, which is chaired by
Rickey Peete, a black Memphis City Councilman.
Should the CCC vote to change the names, the proposal
will then be brought before the Memphis City Council, where the constituency
for the councilmen is nearly 70% black.
Even if the parks names are changed, the monuments will remain since
the Jefferson Davis statue in Confederate Park is a National Historical
monument and the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue in Forrest Park is Forrest’s
and his wife’s final resting place and most likely would need the permission
of his family to be removed.
Support for the parks and statue remaining as
they presently are was voiced by several hundred visitors to the statue
where the group camped overnight and "guarded" the Colonel and his dearly
departed wife. |
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FCC Membership Caught in Quagmire With
SCV And MOS&B Split Conventions
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The recent and ever more venomous split
that has developed within the ranks of the Sons of Confederate Veterans
which had created some controversy for the members of the FCC who previously
registered at the national SCV or MOS&B conventions to join the
organization. Since the signup the past two years has been stymied by
the difficulty in getting all the FCC previous members together at one time,
it has been decided by the leadership of the organization to place the
newsletter on the internet for all members to read and become aware of the
latest FCC news.
The Forrest Cavalry Corps signup this year will be at
the MSO&B convention in Mobile according to officers of the organization.
One of the reasons for not taking memberships over the internet or by mail
involves dues, participation and events associated with the meeting times of
the organization.
SCV LOSES
DUCKWORTH CAMP
Because the Haywood county Duckworth Camp did not have any renewals
of SCV membership, the SCV has pulled this camp's membership in the
organization, Commander Lynn Shaw was notified recently.
The Duckworth Camp was to host the
Tennessee Camp in the annual reunion at College Hill Center in Brownsville
next month, but was notified by the state commander that the convention had
been relocated to Middle Tennessee because of the failure of members to
re-enlist in the organization. Life-time members locally took the
"slap in the face" to former CIC Lynn Jackson Shaw because of his position
on the present trend of the SCV away from a historical point of view.
In the spirit of moving
on beyond the battlefield, things must continue. Needless to say, the
Duckworth camp will be hosting the state convention for the Military Order
of Stars and Bars at the same time, same station and same address at College
Hill with a great program lined up on local civil war history.
There will be opportunity to sign up for the Forrest Cavalry Corps at each
and every meeting of the MOS&B. Ya'll come!!
MOS&B CONVENTION SCHEDULED IN MOBILE ALABAMA JULY 20-23.
Hotel - Mobile Marriott
1-800-916-1693
or
(251)-476-6400
Rates: $105.00
Ask for MOS&B Rate when calling.
http://www.liddelmosb.com
Check out the particulars for
the National MOS&B Convention |
