Nathan Bedford Forrest Statue - Memphis

[SupaRice]

http://wreg.com/2015/08/18/memphis-city-council-votes-to-remove-bedford-forrest-statue/

 

Anyone know what happened with this? They were talking about selling it I think?

[bersaguy]

Was in the news the other night but nothing has been voted on yet on how they plan to handle it at that time........ :shrug:

[seez52]

I believe the mayor was kicked out of office at the last election along with some of the loudmouth council members. Their replacements have discovered the city ain't got no money for dumbass lawsuits and are looking for ways to have the whole issue quietly fade away. 

 

I'm ashamed to even admit the former mayor was from Lebanon. His ancestors are rolling in their graves.

Edited December 2, 2015 by seez52

[kieefer]

Some special snowflakes has had their feelings hurt.

 

Destroy American history, a liberals favorite past time.

[SupaRice]

If they do decide to go forward with removal, and it can be obtained at a reasonable fee..... It should be bought and placed somewhere fitting and respectful. I wonder if there could be a crowd-sourced funding effort to carry this out?

[Grunt67]

If they are going to go this route, they should take down all the Martin Luther King markers as well. Works both ways.

[Garufa]

When are we ( as a country ) gonna get a backbone again?

 

We are way past the point of no return.

[angler]

All they want to do is stir the pot! THERE IS ABSOLUTLY NOTHING WRONG WITH GENERAL FORREST STATUE WHERE IT IS! All they have to do is not go by it!, if it was reversed and it was the Lorraine motel talk about closing it down! 15 kinds of H---! Would be raised!!

[diamondback]

When are we ( as a country ) gonna get a backbone again?

 

I think it would take another war between the states or revolution. I am not advocating that, but liberals do like to dance on the mindfield.

 

If they do decide to go forward with removal, and it can be obtained at a reasonable fee..... It should be bought and placed somewhere fitting and respectful. I wonder if there could be a crowd-sourced funding effort to carry this out?

 

I would hope so. I would not be surprised if they want to throw it away disrespectful morons.

 

If they are going to go this route, they should take down all the Martin Luther King markers as well. Works both ways.

 

Just a side note. I once read in a sociology magazine ( been a few years) that some of the streets named after dr king tend to have more crime than those named after many confederate generals.

[Oh Shoot]

.....

 

 

Just a side note. I once read in a sociology magazine ( been a few years) that some of the streets named after dr king tend to have more crime than those named after many confederate generals.

 

Well, since there's a street named MLK something or other in most every city of any size in America, and they're generally in higher crime areas to begin with, that's pretty much a given.

 

- OS

[Dirtshooter]

Only in Amerika!! Just like this statue is the boogey man and hurt somebody. A bunch of danged idiots is what I say. You can't change history no matter how many statues you destroy or books you burn, but I suppose just like the idiots that say the Holocaust didn't happen, if you wait long enough everyone that knew the truth will be dead and you can bluff the rest of the people. These are some sad times in the U.S. and the bad thing is it didn't just happen yesterday, it has been coming for 50-60 years. It is like the story of how to eat an elephant, 1 bite at a time.

[Pain103]

I don't get the statue issue but what is worse than that is the city voted on moving his remains? I could only think of maybe one or two reasons why buried remains should be disturbed that is just disrespectful.

[Chucktshoes]

I don't get the statue issue but what is worse than that is the city voted on moving his remains? I could only think of maybe one or two reasons why buried remains should be disturbed that is just disrespectful.

In all fairness, the remains were moved from Elmwood cemetery to their present location when the park was created.

[Grayfox54]

The whole mess is about selective history in which some facts are stated loudly and others ignored. Nathen Bedford Forrest was one of the founding members of the Ku Klux Klan and served as its first Grand Wizard. This is fact and why certain people want the statue removed. What is ignored is that is the fact that when Forrest saw the direction the Klan was taking, he quit and spent considerable effort to distance himself from them and denounced the Klan's activities. 

Forrest deserves a statue because he was without a doubt the the finest Calvary Commander on either side during the War of Northern Aggression. Its said the Forrest was the one Confederate General that Grant feared most. Sherman held him in such high regard the he said "That devil Forrest...must be hunted down and killed if it costs ten thousand lives and bankrupts the Federal treasury." 

 

But, of course, in memphis all anybody cares about is that he was in the Klan. So who's the real racists here? 

 

[seez52]

The whole mess is about selective history in which some facts are stated loudly and others ignored. Nathen Bedford Forrest was one of the founding members of the Ku Klux Klan and served as its first Grand Wizard. This is fact and why certain people want the statue removed. What is ignored is that is the fact that when Forrest saw the direction the Klan was taking, he quit and spent considerable effort to distance himself from them and denounced the Klan's activities. 

Forrest deserves a statue because he was without a doubt the the finest Calvary Commander on either side during the War of Northern Aggression. Its said the Forrest was the one Confederate General that Grant feared most. Sherman held him in such high regard the he said "That devil Forrest...must be hunted down and killed if it costs ten thousand lives and bankrupts the Federal treasury." 

 

But, of course, in memphis all anybody cares about is that he was in the Klan. So who's the real racists here? 

 

I'd be interested in knowing your source for his involvement in the klan. The last account I had of it is there has never been any evidence other than one man's account some 30 years after the fact. I believe his name was Morton and he had ridden with NBF during the war. His account has always been suspect due to a conflict of interest, but can't recall offhand the details. He seems to be much misaligned on many fronts.

[Grayfox54]

There are a number of references on the internet. A search of his name and history will get you multiple accounts of his life which include Forrest's Klan involvement. However, you do make a valid point. It is the internet after all and things aren't always as they seem. :shrug:  

[SupaRice]

He was a slave trader before the war if I recall correctly, he had been sort of one of the largest brokers of slaves and had a building in Memphis. I believe that is documented, but I'm no historian.

Regardless he was by anyone's account a brilliant tactician and a fearless soldier. Which is the reason of these monuments.

[diamondback]

He was a slave trader before the war if I recall correctly, he had been sort of one of the largest brokers of slaves and had a building in Memphis. I believe that is documented, but I'm no historian.

Regardless he was by anyone's account a brilliant tactician and a fearless soldier. Which is the reason of these monuments.

It is very important to note, and many don't, that slavery was legal at the time. Thus I think judging the founders and forrest for that is not totally fair. hell most of the Yankees were as racist if not more than southerners who happened to be.

[seez52]

There are a number of references on the internet. A search of his name and history will get you multiple accounts of his life which include Forrest's Klan involvement. However, you do make a valid point. It is the internet after all and things aren't always as they seem. :shrug:  

The most creditable info I've found on NBF including the klan issue and Ft. Pillow incident was researched by Dr. Michael Bradley. He writes well and goes through many of the biographies about NBF dispelling the things many of the writers simply accept as fact. To get at the true history requires first person accounts which most of the biographers don't do the leg work get at. Dr. Bradley seems to have done the proper due diligence, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't off the internet  ;)

Edited December 4, 2015 by seez52