NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee’s Capitol Commission has no plans to address a contentious bust of a former Confederate general and early leader of the Ku Klux Klan when it meets next week for the first time in a year.
Gov. Bill Lee had told reporters in October that he expected the state panel to discuss the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust when he appointed two new members to the commission. The bust has been on display inside the state Capitol for decades, sparking multiple protests and calls for its removal.
Forrest was a Confederate cavalry general who amassed a fortune as a plantation owner and slave trader in Memphis before the Civil War.
“I’m sure they will consider it,” said Lee, a Republican, at the time.
Lee’s appointees to the 12-member commission were Knoxville talk radio show host Hallerin Hill and Jackson Police Department deputy chief Tyreece Miller, who are both black.