Memphis City Council unanimously votes to dig up Confederate general, wife

http://www.examiner.com/article/memphis-city-council-unanimously-votes-to-dig-up-confederate-general-wife ^

[bryan999]

Late Tuesday, the Memphis, Tennessee, City Council voted unanimously to dig up the remains of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his wife, Talking Points Memo reported Wednesday. The council also voted to remove a statue placed in Forrest's honor. The move came after Mayor A.C. Wharton called for the bodies to be dug up and relocated.

Tuesday's vote is not the end of the story, however. According to WREG, the Chancery Court would also have to approve the removal of the remains and Forrest's family would also be involved in the decision.

Forrest and his wife are currently buried beneath a statute honoring the general in a park which had been named after him until two years ago. The park is now known as Memphis' Health Sciences Park.

Officials with Elmwood Cemetery -- the location of Forrest's original resting place -- said they would be willing to help move the remains but said they did not want to become the new home of the statue. It is not known where the statue would go if the Tennessee Historic Commission approves its removal. The commission is not set to meet before October.

[Stormdog]

“Why not go full Cromwell and chop off the Forrest’s head from the corpse and display it in front of Memphis city hall.”

And then give it their full cultural imprimatur by putting a low income housing project on the grave site.

[zeugma]

Absolutely horrifying.

You nailed it.

These people obviously can't read.

[lowbridge]

Next they’ll be digging up Elvis’ grave for the crime of appearing in a movie (his first) in which his family are confederates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UaJCiTMNco

[ladyjane]

Perhaps this is what is needed to get this country back on the right track.

Too late for that. We're headed straight to the third world cesspool.

The Founders hoped we could retain our Republic. We can't do that with people who want to dig up graves of political enemies.

[ladyjane]

Is that a French manicure on the mayor? Yowser.

[clearcarbon]

"Memphis City Council unanimously votes to dig up Confederate general, wife"

Frederick Douglass was a self avowed Republican, so perhaps he'll be one of the next on demRATs hit list.

[Jack Black]

Pendulums swing both ways. MLK was a coke snorting, whore-screwing, plagiarizer and I don’t want that being any part of our culture. Yes, and his atrocious socialist realist statue. A protest by about 2,000 Southern Patriots could reduce it to rocks. 1950 providing a perimeter, and 50 armed with air hammers and sledges in the middle smashing it to bits.

[Inyo-Mono]

my great uncle rode with Forest

this needs to be avenged

My great-grandfather's cousin rode with Forrest too and was KIA. My G-grandfather was Virginia cavalry.

[machogirl]

THAT! and we had to “honor” his religion.

[Lizavetta]

Funny how we all missed that burial at sea was a tradition for desert nomads......

Good one, sir.

[machogirl]

You just reminded me of something I found curious. Watched (only 1/2 way through), Steven Tyler’s (he of Aerosmith) new Country video, and ICK, he was wearing nail polish (black or purple). Since when do “Male Country Singers” wear nail polish?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=118&v=d0n40GVcj64

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

Too many people think of Forrest only as a KKK leader. Most don't know that when it began to turn racist he left and ordered it to be disbanded. Here is some info about Forrest most folks don't know:

Forrest : Memphis' first White Civil Rights Advocate

Lt. General Nathan Bedford Forrest (1821-1877) was a renowned Southern military leader and strategist during the War Between the States. During the Civil War, Forrest's Confederate cavalry wrecked havoc among Union forces throughout the mid-South. He gained worldwide fame from his many battlefield successes, but the wartime heroics have overshadowed his post-war work as a community leader and civil rights advocate. He fought fiercely on the battlefield, yet was a compassionate man off the field. After the war, Forrest worked tirelessly to build the New South and to promote employment for black Southerners. Forrest was known near and far as a great general, and was a well-respected citizen by both blacks and whites alike. The Independent Order of Pole-Bearers Association (predecessor to the NAACP) was organized by Southern blacks after the war to promote black voting rights, etc. One of their early conventions was held in Memphis and Mr. Forrest was invited to be the guest speaker, the first white man ever to be invited to speak to the Association.

After the Civil War, General Forrest made a speech to the Memphis City Council (then called the Board of Aldermen). In this speech he said that there was no reason that the black man could not be doctors, store clerks, bankers, or any other job equal to whites. They were part of our community and should be involved and employed as such just like anyone else. In another speech to Federal authorities, Forrest said that many of the ex-slaves were skilled artisans and needed to be employed and that those skills needed to be taught to the younger workers. If not, then the next generation of blacks would have no skills and could not succeed and would become dependent on the welfare of society.

Forrest's words went unheeded. The Memphis & Selma Railroad was organized by Forrest after the war to help rebuild the South's transportation and to build the 'new South'. Forrest took it upon himself to hire blacks as architects, construction engineers and foremen, train engineers and conductors, and other high level jobs. In the North, blacks were prohibited from holding such jobs. When the Civil War began, Forrest offered freedom to 44 of his slaves if they would serve with him in the Confederate army. All 44 agreed. One later deserted; the other 43 served faithfully until the end of the war.

Though they had many chances to leave, they chose to remain loyal to the South and to Forrest. Part of General Forrest's command included his own Escort Company, his Green Berets, made up of the very best soldiers available. This unit, which varied in size from 40-90 men, was the elite of the cavalry. Eight of these picked men were black soldiers and all served gallantly and bravely throughout the war. All were armed with at least 2 pistols and a rifle. Most also carried two additional pistols in saddle holsters. At war's end, when Forrest's cavalry surrendered in May 1865, there were 65 black troopers on the muster roll. Of the soldiers who served under him, Forrest said of the black troops: Finer Confederates never fought.

Forrest was a brilliant cavalryman and courageous soldier. As author Jack Hurst writes: a man possessed of physical valor perhaps unprecedented among his countrymen, as well as, ironically, a man whose social attitudes may well have changed farther in the direction of racial enlightenment over the span of his lifetime than those of most American historical figures.

When Forrest died in 1877 it is noteworthy that his funeral in Memphis was attended not only by a throng of thousands of whites but by hundreds of blacks as well. The funeral procession was over two miles long and was attended by over 10,000 area residents, including 3000 black citizens paying their respects.

Forrest's speech to the Independent Order of Pole-Bearers Association July 5, 1875.

A convention and BBQ was held by the Independent Order of Pole-Bearers Association at the fairgrounds of Memphis, five miles east of the city. An invitation to speak was conveyed to General Nathan Bedford Forrest, one of the city's most prominent citizens, and one of the foremost cavalry commanders in the late War Between the States. This was the first invitation granted to a white man to speak at this gathering. The invitation's purpose, one of the leaders said, was to extend peace, joy, and union, and following a brief welcoming address a Miss Lou Lewis, daughter of an officer of the Pole-Bearers, brought forward flowers and assurances that she conveyed them as a token of good will. After Miss Lewis handed him the flowers, General Forrest responded with a short speech that, in the contemporary pages of the Memphis Appeal, evinces Forrest's racial open-mindedness that seemed to have been growing in him.

Ladies and Gentlemen I accept the flowers as a memento of reconciliation between the white and colored races of the southern states. I accept it more particularly as it comes from a colored lady, for if there is any one on God's earth who loves the ladies I believe it is myself. ( Immense applause and laughter.) I came here with the jeers of some white people, who think that I am doing wrong. I believe I can exert some influence, and do much to assist the people in strengthening fraternal relations, and shall do all in my power to elevate every man to depress none. (Applause.) I want to elevate you to take positions in law offices, in stores, on farms, and wherever you are capable of going. I have not said anything about politics today. I don't propose to say anything about politics. You have a right to elect whom you please; vote for the man you think best, and I think, when that is done, you and I are freemen. Do as you consider right and honest in electing men for office. I did not come here to make you a long speech, although invited to do so by you. I am not much of a speaker, and my business prevented me from preparing myself. I came to meet you as friends, and welcome you to the white people. I want you to come nearer to us. When I can serve you I will do so. We have but one flag, one country; let us stand together. We may differ in color, but not in sentiment Many things have been said about me which are wrong, and which white and black persons here, who stood by me through the war, can contradict. Go to work, be industrious, live honestly and act truly, and when you are oppressed I'll come to your relief. I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for this opportunity you have afforded me to be with you, and to assure you that I am with you in heart and in hand. (Prolonged applause.)

Whereupon N. B. Forrest again thanked Miss Lewis for the bouquet and then gave her a kiss on the cheek. Such a kiss was unheard of in the society of those days, in 1875, but it showed a token of respect and friendship between the general and the black community and did much to promote harmony among the citizens of Memphis.

http://www.tennessee-scv.org/ForrestHistSociety/forrest_speech.html

[LeoWindhorse]

It’s time to do our revered ancesters proud .
saddle up boys n to the Colors!
Advance into the fire without fear.
They did.....how much less is expected of us ?

[zipper]

Horrifying is right.

The equestrian monument to Forrest is magnificent. It cost tens of thousands of dollars of privately raised money to commission overseas and transport to Memphis from France in 1904, and 30,000 people showed up for the dedication. He was an adored figure in the South at the time of his death, and as other posters have rightly shown, he was a peacemaker and friend to blacks, as evidenced by his speeches.

Funny thing is, a couple of years ago I noticed the main local paper The Commercial Appeal (aka ‘comical appeal’) had an online section dedicated to “monuments of Memphis”. There were over 50 monuments with pictures and captions, including some plaques as small as a book, but no mention of the Nathan Bedford Forrest monument.

I don’t think moving it to Elmwood is a good idea. It will be vandalized there (remember Elvis was interred there but after grave-robbing attempts his remains were moved to Graceland). Elmwood is a spectacular old cemetery where many of Memphis’ former historical figures are buried, but it lacks security and it’s in a bad area (the rule rather than the exception in Memphis).

I suggest if his monument and the graves must be moved, it should be taken to Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park, about 140 miles east of Memphis. Unless of course the PC crowd tries to disassemble that one, too.

[Fledermaus]

Well, on the other hand it’s about time the Dems faced up to their past of slavery and racism!

[sergeantdave]

Let’s start a petition to bury Mayor A.C. Wharton’s remains in an elephant’s graveyard in Zimbabwe.

[kiryandil]

Memphis, Tennessee, City Council (D-ISIS)

Wonder when they're going to vote to blow up Christian churches and Jewish synagogues in Memphis?

[kiryandil]

Gee-whiz. You would think he was a Grand Wizard of the KKK.

They gonna dig up ol' "Sheets" Byrd? LOL! :)

[kiryandil]

As someone pointed out, this is no different than what ISIS is doing in the Middle East.

[sphinx]

At the rate we’re going, by the end of the summer the jackasses will be demanding that the former confederate states be expelled from the Union.