CHAPEL HILL, Tenn. – A Democratic state representative says he’s created a bill to end Nathan Bedford Forrest Day in Tennessee.
A law required Governor Bill Haslam to recognize the Confederate General and Ku Klux Klan leader Monday even after Haslam called for a bust of Forrest to be removed from the State Capitol.
But in Forrest’s childhood hometown of Chapel Hill, lawmakers say people shouldn’t expect anything related to Forrest to change.
Forrest’s influence can be seen in the town on Nathan and Forrest streets, a marker at the home where he was born, a memorial just a few feet from Chapel Hill’s town hall and even the high school that is named after him.
The town's mayor said on this day meant to honor Forrest, there's a lot of controversy surrounding him.
Monday afternoon, Tennessee state representative Mike Stewart (D-Nashville) said he filed a bill to end Nathan Bedford Forrest Day across the state, and Governor Haslam has come out in favor of removing a bust of Forrest from the state capitol.
But the Chapel Hill mayor said people shouldn't expect the same with the memorials and the school name in Chapel Hill.
“I think it's left to this community, for us to handle our own issues, I don't see it changing the name of the school,” said Mayor Danny Bingham.
He said especially in the town where Forrest grew up, there's an historical significance in Chapel Hill that he hopes isn't altered by outsiders.
“We want to be sensitive to the issues that are going on in the world, and at the same time realize there is a history here that we can't erase,” Bingham said.
When it comes to the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest in the State Capitol, a commission will be meeting Friday at 9 a.m. to discuss possible next steps for the bust.
