MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest’s polarizing presence has hung over Memphis since he moved here in 1852 – his legacy cemented by a giant statue that loomed over all who passed his gravesite in a popular park.
Defenders considered him a hero for his Civil War exploits. Detractors called him a violent racist and noted his early leadership role in the Ku Klux Klan.
Now the former slave trader’s remains are set to be moved to a new Confederate museum in Columbia, Tennessee – another milestone in the effort to remove statues, monuments, and now the remains, of Confederate leaders from public spaces.
As workers prepared to dig up his grave earlier this month, a white man waved a rebel flag, sang “Dixie” and launched an expletive-laced tirade at Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer. Sawyer, who is Black, plucked Confederate flags off a chain-link fence surrounding the site as George Johnson paced behind her on a concrete platform.
When he cursed at her again, Sawyer replied: “It’s not your property,” and turned toward reporters gathered for the June 1 news conference.