Nathan Bedford Forrest was a famed general in the Civil War, professional slave trader and owner, war criminal, and a founder of the KKK (our nations first official domestic terrorist organization), but he stands as a hero in the eyes of modern racists.

A sculpture commemorates Forrest on the grounds of our State Capitol, but this celebration of a figure who violates our passion for racial justice today has no place on our government's official grounds. Placing Forrest on the same hill as Lincoln, James K. Polk, and other far more honorable figures, emboldens racist thought and action in our state and beyond. Further, the statue was commissioned by the Sons of Confederate Veterans and installed in 1978, a period of southern states' backlash against the victories of the Civil Right era.

Tell the Tennessee State Capitol Commission and Speakers of the House Beth Harwell and Ron Ramsey, the decision-makers in this case, that citizens or leaders of Tennessee wish to leave NO ambiguity over whether we endorse racial prejudice! We ask that they petition the Tennessee Historical Commission to remove this bust from our State Capitol as soon as possible.