Citing ‘hysteria’ over Confederate symbols, McCormick plans to slow down his effort to remove Forrest bust from state Capitol

A statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest sits on a concrete pedestal at a park named after the confederate cavalryman on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013 in Memphis Tenn. The Memphis City Council has voted to rename Forrest Park and two other Confederacy-themed parks. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz) A statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest sits on a concrete pedestal at a park named after the confederate cavalryman on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2013 in Memphis Tenn. The Memphis City Council has voted to rename Forrest Park and two other Confederacy-themed parks. (AP Photo/Adrian Sainz)

By Andy Sher July 6, 2015 6 min read

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NASHVILLE – House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick says he’ll slow down his effort to remove a bust of controversial Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest from Tennessee’s state Capitol.

Citing a national wave of “hysteria” over Confederate symbols following last month’s slayings of nine black parishioners at a historically black church in Charleston, S.C., McCormick said he thinks a calmer discussion is needed, not just of Forrest but related issues as well.

The man charged in the shooting, Dylann Roof, is an avowed white supremacist who posed with Confederate flags in photos. The slayings sparked a national discussion about symbols of the Confederacy that remain embedded in the Southern landscape.