MTSU building will remain named after Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest
Middle Tennessee State University President Sidney A. McPhee said Wednesday there will be no appeal of a Tennessee Historical Commission decision rejecting MTSU’s request to change the name of a campus building named for Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, reports the Murfreesboro Daily News Journal.
Report says 110 Confederate memorials removed since 2015 — including eight in TN (where new National Confederate Museum is planned)
The Southern Poverty Law Center has produced a report saying 110 monuments, place names and other memorials or symbols tied to the Confederacy and its leaders have been removed nationwide since 2015, when a shooting at a black church in South Carolina energized a movement against such memorials. The group says it has identified 1,728 that remain.
The Associated Press, in an article on the report, says that the Sons of Confederate Veterans – which, along with the United Daughters of the Confederacy, played a role in erecting many of the memorials – has at the same time been creating some new ones. The organization is also planning a National Confederate Museum to be located at Columbia, Tenn.
New book on history of slavery in Tennessee
“History Bill,” as former Tennessean reporter Bill Carey is known in overseeing the non-profit Tennessee History For Kids organization, has waded through hundreds of old newspaper archives to produce a book that starkly illustrates how deeply slavery was once embedded in a state that now is often presented as a leader – well, at least in comparison to other Southern states — in opposition to the now-outlawed ownership of men, women and children by other men, women and children.
Sheriff’s deputies disciplined for cuffing, cussing and threatening man recording a traffic stop
A man who was cuffed, cussed and curtailed from recording a Bradley County Sheriff’s Office traffic stop in April says he’s glad to hear two officers involved in the incident have been disciplined, reports the Times Free Press.
Nashville police arrest 21 protesters near state capitol
Nashville police arrested 21 protesters near the state Capitol complex on Monday, contending they were obstructing public passage through city streets, reports The Tennessean.
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Shelby GOP disavows local candidate with ties to white nationalist group
The Shelby County Republican Party is disavowing Keith Alexander, the property assessor candidate with white nationalist ties, reports the Commercial Appeal. Alexander’s name has been dropped from membership roll and a $25 donation he made was refunded.
And, if Alexander wins Tuesday’s primary election, local GOP Chairman Lee Mills would want Alexander removed and candidate Robert “Chip” Trouy to fill the Republican spot in the August county general election.. Alexander and Trouy are the only Republicans seeking the party’s nod for assessor.
Illinois proposal denounces TN House for spurning anti-white nationalist resolution
A resolution filed in the Illinois House of Representatives declares that the Tennessee House has “been cowed by the growing influence of white nationalists and neo-Nazis” and the Democrat sponsor tells The Tennessean he expects it to pass with Republican support. It’s suggested other states may do the same.
House retreats from approval of resolution honoring Confederate statue critic
On the “blink-and-you’ve-missed-it” motion of House Majority Leader Glen Casada, the state House has recalled from the Senate a resolution honoring Tami Sawyer, a leader of the Black Lives Matter movement and in the successful efforts to remove Confederate statues from Memphis city parks, reports Cari Wade Gervin. The initial House passage with a GOP supermajority is characterized as “this year’s installment of “Hey, maybe you should read what you are voting for.”
Memphis mayor disputes CNN pundit’s ‘blistering critique’ of city and its leadership
After CNN pundit Angela Rye unleashed a blistering critique of Memphis and its leadership during a taxpayer-funded speech Saturday, Memphis’ Mayor Jim Strickland took the unusual step Monday of issuing a rebuttal to “defend our city,” reports the Commercial Appeal.
New U.S. Civil Rights Trail includes 10 Tennessee locations
Press release from Tennessee Department of Tourist Development
Memphis, Tenn. – Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander and Department of Tourist Development Commissioner Kevin Triplett, today (Wednesday) officially dedicated 10 sites in Tennessee as part of the newly-launched U.S. Civil Rights Trail. The announcement was made during a press conference at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.
