Memphis debate revives over statue of rebel leader Forrest
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – A debate over Confederate symbolism has been rekindled by a suggestion to remove a statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest – rebel general, slave trader and prominent early Ku Klux Klan member- from a park in the majority black city of Memphis.
The bronze statue of Forrest on horseback sits above his grave and that of his wife at a shady, roadside park in Memphis’ medical district.
On Wednesday, Mayor A C Wharton said he personally thinks the statue should be removed from the park and returned to its donors. The Sons of Confederate Veterans opposes the idea.
Discussion of the statue has been renewed amid calls throughout the South to do away with Confederate symbols after the massacre of nine people at a black church in South Carolina.
