Tennessee Politician: Take Down KKK Statue, Replace With Dolly Parton

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The state capitol currently features a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a KKK member and Confederate general who oversaw the killings of hundreds of Black soldiers.

Neal Broverman

Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.

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Neal Broverman

December 17 2019 8:34 AM EST

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In Tennessee's state capitol in Nashville, seven alcoves display busts of white men who ostensibly represent the state's history. One of those busts is of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was a slave trader and one of the first members of the Ku Klux Klan. Now even Republican politicians are starting to understand how wrong this is.

State Rep. Jeremy Faison is now calling for the bust of Forrest to be removed and pressuring officials to replace it with a history-making woman. Speaking to The Tennessean, Faison specifically recommended state suffragette Anne Dallas Dudley or current country superstar and gay icon Dolly Parton. Parton has not commented publicly on the proposal.

"My daughter is 16, and I would love for her to come into the capitol and see a lady up there," Faison told the newspaper.

The politician also sees an opportunity to honor a person of color in the capitol since he notes Black slave labor helped build the edifice.

Faison's effort will face many hurdles. While former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam supported relocating Forrest to a museum, the Capitol Commission -- which oversee sthe building -- voted against such an action. Current Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, wants to keep Forrest where he is but will consider adding historical context to the bust. While Lee signed a law in July commemorating Nathan Bedford Forrest Day, he also said he would also like the Tennessee governor freed from a law that mandates they declare some sort of observance for the racist general, who during the Civil War oversaw the killing of hundreds of Black Union soldiers at what became known as the Fort Pillow massacre.