SPINELESS: Tennessee Republican Wants to Placate the Left by Calling for Confederate Statue Removal
Jose Nino
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A Tennessee Republican is now bowing down to political correctness culture.
Two years ago, State Representative Jeremy Faison defended the bust of Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest, arguing that it represented a part of history that should be left alone.
Fast forward to the present, Faison is now considering the idea of moving the statue from the Capitol and placing in the state museum.
This move motivated by pressure from G..A. Hardaway, an African American lawmaker from Memphis, who asked Faison if he had read up on Forrest’s views and ideology.
Since reading more about Forrest, who was also a leader of the first iteration of the Ku Klux Klan, Faison has suddenly become “enlightened.”
“I fundamentally reject any notion by someone saying that moving him to the museum is trying to whitewash history,” Faison declared, referring to comments from numerous Tennessee Republicans, including Gov. Bill Lee at one time,, during an ongoing debate about whether the state should relocate the bust.
“If we want to preserve history, then let’s tell it the right way. Right now there are eight alcoves (in the Capitol). Seven are filled with white men.”
“How about getting a lady in there?” Faison asked instead. “My daughter is 16, and I would love for her to come into the Capitol and see a lady up there. What’s wrong with Anne Dallas Dudley getting in that alcove?” Faison continued, making a reference to the 19th-century women’s suffrage activist hailing from Nashville.
Faison rejected arguments posed by some Republicans that removing the Forrest statue will open the floodgates to further statue removals.
“This is not about what the chain effect might be,” Faison said. “Let’s just do the right thing. Just because it might start a chain reaction doesn’t mean it’s not the right thing.”
On Friday, Local Nashville television station WKRN on Friday, December 6, 2019 reported Faison’s change of position on the topic.
A statue’s presence in a state legislature does not necessarily represent praise for a certain individual. Statues like Forrest’s serve to remind Americans of a darker time in our history, and how Americans ended up persevering.
However, in today’s PC culture, such displays must be destroyed in the name of diversity and tolerance.
And we better believe that they won’t stop there.
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