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Tennessee lawmakers unwittingly vote to honor Ku Klux Klan leader

FILE - In this July 12, 2015, file photo, Mike Goza, left, helps Mike Junor drape a Confederate battle flag over the base of the statue and tomb of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a rebel general, slave trader and early Ku Klux Klan member, at Health Sciences Park in Memphis, Tenn. State House members said they were surprised that they unwittingly passed a resolution honoring Forrest on April 13, 2017 (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal via AP, file)
FILE - In this July 12, 2015, file photo, Mike Goza, left, helps Mike Junor drape a Confederate battle flag over the base of the statue and tomb of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a rebel general, slave trader and early Ku Klux Klan member, at Health Sciences Park in Memphis, Tenn. State House members said they were surprised that they unwittingly passed a resolution honoring Forrest on April 13, 2017 (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal via AP, file)

By Associated Press 3 min read

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives thought they had defeated a resolution to honor Nathan Bedford Forrest. Days later, the chamber unwittingly passed another resolution touting the achievements of the Confederate general and early leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

The first resolution seeking to jointly honor Forrest and the first African-American elected to the Legislature was put off until after the Legislature adjourns, effectively killing it for the year.

But Republican Rep. Mike Sparks of Smyrna included much of the same language in a separate resolution to honor Shane Kastler, the author of a book about Forrest.

The new resolution was passed 94-0 along with other items on the House consent calendar, a slate of bills and resolutions deemed uncontroversial and not requiring any floor debate.

Rep. Johnny Shaw, a Bolivar Democrat who is African-American, said he opposes resolutions honoring “slave traders and people that were against my ancestors.”