Tennessee governor expects panel to address Confederate bust

The Associated Press

5 years ago

A bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest is displayed in the Tennessee State Capitol Thursday, Aug. 17, ... — A bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest is displayed in the Tennessee State Capitol Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017, in Nashville, Tenn. Ongoing pleas to remove the bust of the Confederate cavalry general and early Ku Klux Klan leader from the Tennessee Capitol lobby have gone unheeded by statehouse leaders. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Gov. Bill Lee says Tennessee’s Capitol Commission will soon meet for the first time in more than two years.

Lee said Thursday he expects the state panel to address the contentious bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan. The bust has been on display inside the state Capitol for decades.

Lee has said he supports adding some sort of context around the bust but has not called for its removal.

The Capitol Commission last met in September 2017, where it voted 7-5 against removing the bust. Members include Tennessee’s secretary of state, state treasurer and state comptroller.

Forrest was a Confederate cavalry general who amassed a fortune as a plantation owner and slave trader in Memphis before the Civil War.