MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – A city council in Tennessee plans to consider four different ways to deal with the growing uproar over the existence of two statues of Confederate leaders at city parks.
Council members in Memphis agreed Tuesday to discuss a resolution listing steps it can take to remove or board up statues of Jefferson Davis and Nathan Bedford Forrest.
Davis was the president of the Confederate States, while Forrest was a slave trader, Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader. Both statues have been the target of protests by activists who say the monuments represent racism and hate. Seven people were arrested after clashing with police during a protest at the location of the Forrest statue on Saturday.
Criticism of Confederate monuments has been intensifying since a rally earlier this month in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned violent when white nationalists opposed to the city’s plan to remove a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee clashed with counter protesters.
Council member Martavius Jones compared having the statues in public parks to erecting monuments to former Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and others who organized attacks on the United States.