Legislator files bill to end observance of Nathan Bedford Forrest Day in Tennessee

July 13, 2015 at 6:15 p.m. | Updated July 13, 2015 at 6:47 p.m.

by Staff Report

FILE -- In this 1998 file photo, a statue of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest is put up on private property along Interstate 65 in Nashville, Tenn. The statue is one of several of Forrest, an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan, that have come under question after a massacre at a black church in Charleston, S.C. Following the massacre, a bipartisan mix of officials across the country is calling for the removal of Confederate flags and other symbols of the Confederacy from public places. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)
FILE -- In this 1998 file photo, a statue of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest is put up on private property along Interstate 65 in Nashville, Tenn. The statue is one of several of Forrest, an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan, that have come under question after a massacre at a black church in Charleston, S.C. Following the massacre, a bipartisan mix of officials across the country is calling for the removal of Confederate flags and other symbols of the Confederacy from public places. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

A member of Tennessee's General Assembly wants to cancel Nathan Bedford Forrest Day in Tennessee, after several news outlets reported that Gov. Bill Haslam had signed a proclamation declaring Monday as "Nathan Bedford Forrest Day."

Haslam's spokesman told the Tennessean that the Governor officially signed the proclamation because state law gives him few options. To change the law that requires Haslam to proclaim a day honoring Forrest, it would take a second piece of legislation.

Democratic State Rep. Mike Stewart, D-Nashville said the current statute invites the people of the state to observe Nathan Bedford Forrest day "in schools, churches and other suitable places with appropriate ceremonies expressive of the public sentiment befitting the anniversary."

But Stewart had something different in mind.

"I can't think of anything more appropriate than using today as the beginning of the end of Nathan Bedford Forrest Day", Stewart said in a news release. "We do not need a special day to remember that Forrest commanded the forces who massacred soldiers at Fort Pillow after they had surrendered and laid down their arms. In a state that has produced many genuine military heroes we should not be elevating that sort of service."

Stewart pointed out that his bill would allow the observance of Robert E. Lee Day, Abraham Lincoln Day, Andrew Jackson Day, Memorial Day and Veterans Day to continue.

Forrest was a general in the Confederate Army and early advocate of mobile warfare during the U.S. Civil War, and an early member of the Ku Klux Klan who later distanced himself from the organization.

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