More Confederate Symbols Under Fire in the South
Memphis (AP) – The mayor of Memphis, Tennessee, says he thinks a statue of Confederate General and Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest should be removed from its location at a city park.
In a statement emailed to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Mayor A C Wharton Jr. said he would like to see the statue removed from Health Sciences Park. Wharton said the graves of Forrest and his wife, also located at the park, should be relocated as well.
Health Sciences Park was called Forrest Park until the City Council voted in February 2013 to change the name. It also changed the name of Confederate Park and Jefferson Davis Park.
It was not immediately clear if the City Council would consider moving the statue.
Lawmakers have already called for the removal of a bust of Forrest from an alcove in the state Senate chambers.
The suspect in last week’s shooting deaths of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, was seen in photos brandishing the Confederate battle flag as a symbol of hate.
Tennessee Forrest Statue
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The call is getting louder to remove a bust of a Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader from the halls of the Tennessee Capitol.
The state’s two Republican speakers have sent a letter to the Tennessee State Capitol Commission to evaluate the characteristics of those to be honored in the Capitol complex following calls to remove the bust.
If the panel votes to remove it, it must seek a waiver from the Tennessee Historical Commission to avoid violating a state law.
Republican Gov. Bill Haslam said earlier this week that he supports removing the bust, as well as Confederate flags from state license plates.
The actions come days after nine parishioners were gunned down in a historic black church in South Carolina, prompting a debate over Confederate symbols.
WASHINGTON (AP) – The debate over the Confederate flag in South Carolina has prompted a new look at Confederate statues in the U.S. Capitol.
Around 10 of the figures in the National Statuary Hall Collection are of Confederate leaders or people who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Democratic Congressman John Lewis of Georgia says he wants at least one of those figures removed. He’s referring to a statue of Alexander H. Stephens, who was once governor of Georgia – and also vice president of the Confederacy.
But Republican Congressman Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia disagrees. He says Stephens did a lot of other good things, and that a statue of him doesn’t equate to the divisive symbolism of the Confederate flag.
Alabama Confederate Statue
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – The Birmingham City Council is considering removing a Confederate monument from a downtown park.
WVTM-TV reported the city council discussed the removal of The Confederate Soldier and Sailor Monument in Linn Park during a work session Wednesday after a church massacre that left nine dead in Charleston last week.
The Outcast Voters League wants the monument, which was erected in 1905, removed. The group says it’s offensive to African-Americans.
City Council President Johnathan Austin said in the meeting the city shouldn’t have anything in the community that perpetuates or promotes division.
Austin says it’s the city’s responsibility to take action on objects or symbols that may make people feel divided.
Frank Matthews, president of the Outcast Voters League, says he’ll bring the issue before Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
National Park System Concessions
Washington (AP) – The National Park Service is calling on concessionaires to stop selling items with the Confederate flag following the fatal shooting of nine people at a historic black church in Charleston, South Carolina.
National Park Service director Jonathan Jarvis says the Confederate flag has a place in books, exhibits and reenactments – but clothing, stickers or other items that use the flag as a stand-alone feature should be removed from the stores. Books and other news media depicting the flag in its historical context may remain.
Jarvis made his request in a memo issued Wednesday evening that was obtained by The Associated Press.
The agency contracts with third parties to administer concessions at national parks. Park stores that carry the Confederate flag are generally found at Civil War battlefields or national historic sites.
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