The Tennessee Capitol currently displays eight bust of historical public figure , let in Nathan Bedford Forrest , a Confederate general and found member of the Ku Klux Klan . According toartnet News , Forrest made a fortune as a hard worker trader before the war , and is now mostly think back for conduct 1864’sFort Pillow Massacre , during which his troops killed 100 of black Union soldiers who were try out to surrender .
Though some mass argue that Forrest ’s later support of racial harmony justifies keeping his statue in the Capitol , Republican representative Jeremy Faison thinks it ’s time to honor someone else — he ’s suggestingDolly Parton , a Tennessee indigene know for vocal like “ My Tennessee Mountain Home , ” her Tennessee theme commons , Dollywood ; and , of course , her illustrious country music career .
He ’s overt to other ideas , too , but he think it should be a woman . Right now , all eight of the busts belong to man .
“ My girl is 16 , and I would bang for her to fall into the Capitol and see a gentlewoman up there , ” FaisontoldtheTennessean . “ What ’s incorrect with Anne Dallas Dudley get in that bay ? ” Dudley , a Nashville - born suffragist , helpedTennessee become the final state to sign the 19th Amendment .
Faison is a comparatively Modern vocalism preach to replace Forrest ’s controversial binge ; he originally felt that it should keep its position in the Capitol , since Forrest is a part of story . However , after Representative G.A. Hardaway encouraged him to delve into Forrest ’s ideology , Faison decided Forrest ’s role in history could be remember and study without granting him a position of honor in the state Capitol . Instead , he thinks the bust should be relocate to a museum .
There are about 50,000signatureson a request calling for Tennessee governor Bill Lee to move Forrest ’s fizzle , but it could still take a while for Tennesseans to see a bronze Dolly Parton in the Capitol . Before any military action is taken , the State Capitol Commission and the Tennessee Historical Commission would have to vote on a resolution , and no such resolution has been introduced yet .
[ h / tartnet News ]
