Gov. Bill Lee signs Nathan Bedford Forrest Day proclamation, is not considering law change

[SummerMadness]

Gov. Bill Lee signs Nathan Bedford Forrest Day proclamation, is not considering law change

Gov. Bill Lee has proclaimed Saturday as Nathan Bedford Forrest Day in Tennessee, a day of observation to honor the former Confederate general and early Ku Klux Klan leader whose bust is on display in the state Capitol.

Per state law, the Tennessee governor is tasked with issuing proclamations for six separate days of special observation, three of which, including the July 13 Forrest Day, pertain to the Confederacy.

Racism lives.

This seldom happens, but I agree with Ted Cruz.

 

[Goonie]

Gov. Bill Lee signs Nathan Bedford Forrest Day proclamation, is not considering law change


Racism lives.

This seldom happens, but I agree with Ted Cruz.

I’m checking my calendar. Please tell me it’s April 1st.

 

[Goonie]

Ah, so it’s by statute

 

[Aryeh Jay]

It would seem that the good White People of Tennessee have finally had enough suffering under oppression and being second class citizens and they are fed up and are not having any more of it so they are re-claiming their past heritage and heroes.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Ah, so it’s by statute

Yeah, it looks like the governor's hands are tied by the law on this one, so we can't really blame him. The responsibility is on the legislature now to change the law to prevent future embarrassments... assuming the GOP will allow it to.

 

[SummerMadness]

Yeah, it looks like the governor's hands are tied by the law on this one, so we can't really blame him. The responsibility is on the legislature now to change the law to prevent future embarrassments... assuming the GOP will allow it to.

Are his hands really tied? You may be obligated to sign the proclamation, but you can also advocate for its change. The governor is playing ignorant on this one.

 

[Dave-W]

Are his hands really tied? You may be obligated to sign the proclamation, but you can also advocate for its change. The governor is playing ignorant on this one.

I wonder what would happen if he just outright refused to sign it.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Gov. Bill Lee signs Nathan Bedford Forrest Day proclamation, is not considering law change


Racism lives.

This seldom happens, but I agree with Ted Cruz.

Isn't he basically the Confederate general who had zero military experience....but had a lot of slaves, fought specifically for slavery, spent his military career ignoring military objectives and terrorizing free blacks?

This is one of the few people from history I wouldn't actually argue for a complex or more nuanced view of...he's a product of his time surely, but his character represents everything that was wrong with the south in his day.

I'm curious what the justification for this was.

 

[Goonie]

Isn't he basically the Confederate general who had zero military experience....but had a lot of slaves, fought specifically for slavery, spent his military career ignoring military objectives and terrorizing free blacks?

This is one of the few people from history I wouldn't actually argue for a complex or more nuanced view of...he's a product of his time surely, but his character represents everything that was wrong with the south in his day.

I'm curious what the justification for this was.

I think that he is required by statute.. the question is why has this not been changed? I believe the democratic governor before him tried to change it but the legislature did not support it.

 

[TLK Valentine]

Are his hands really tied? You may be obligated to sign the proclamation, but you can also advocate for its change. The governor is playing ignorant on this one.

Playing neutral, more likely. Looking to see which way the political wind blows. To be expected.

 

[Goonie]

Playing neutral, more likely. Looking to see which way the political wind blows. To be expected.

Time to replace them all with a day in remembrance of the civil war dead

 

[TLK Valentine]

Time to replace them all with a day in remembrance of the civil war dead

That's up to the legislature.

 

[variant]

Are his hands really tied? You may be obligated to sign the proclamation, but you can also advocate for its change. The governor is playing ignorant on this one.

Or, you could just make a proclamation of the actual facts.

Today due to the continued legacy of harsh myopic institutional racism, I proclaim this day to be Nathan Bedford Forest day. To honor of the general who fought to protect peoples rights to reduce some people to property, and later, after helping to cause the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans in that failed cause, formed the KKK to establish a militant terrorist establishment for the protection of racism and white supremacy.

He and his organization succeeded enough that I still to this day have to proclaim a holiday in his honor as we have not yet learned.

 

[variant]

Playing neutral, more likely. Looking to see which way the political wind blows. To be expected.

We have a word for such people. Cowards.

 

[variant]

I'm curious what the justification for this was.

The legislature of Tennessee probably contained more members of the KKK in 1921.

The legislature of Tennessee today doesn't really have an excuse for not changing it.

 

[HisGraceIsAllYouNeed]

I think a lot of people are rather uninformed on Forrest...I’m by no means condoning all of his actions, but some of what people know about him isn’t fact.

 

[variant]

I think a lot of people are rather uninformed on Forrest...I’m by no means condoning all of his actions, but some of what people know about him isn’t fact.

Like what?

 

[essentialsaltes]

Isn't he basically the Confederate general who had zero military experience....but had a lot of slaves, fought specifically for slavery, spent his military career ignoring military objectives and terrorizing free blacks?

I'm curious what the justification for this was.

Given the foregoing, can you hazard a guess?

 

[Ana the Ist]

Given the foregoing, can you hazard a guess?

No. Since you asked nicely enough though....I'll look into as closely as my search engine allows and then try.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Given the foregoing, can you hazard a guess?

Uhh...alright, initially, it seems that as a native of Tennessee NBF seems like he was a continual choice for a law requiring the governor to declare 6 days to the remembrance of the Confederacy.

I'll start by saying that generally speaking, I see nothing wrong with that....as long as it's not celebrating the Confederacy (which seems closer to what is actually being done). If his intention is to not "whitewash history"...then he should include some context to NBF and his memory by talking about what an awful racist he was, how he was less a general and more a warlord....and whatever historians might find to praise about his tactics (he was known for running a small mounted unit and using speed along with hit and run tactics effectively for a neophyte) his objectives were more terrorism than of real value to the war effort. They should talk about his role in the creation of the KKK as well.

Probably better to just remove the law....or rewrite it so that instead of "proclamations" they can make it about the civil war in general.