"The Forrest bust should never have been placed in the State Capitol with his role as a founder of the KKK. It is unfortunate that no Tennessee women are honored in the Capitol, and I would try to change this. The legislature should send the bust to the State Museum and remove this as an issue. There are far more important issues like jobs, health care, economic growth, roads, and education." - Eddie Mannis via KnoxNews (June 22, 2020)
Thank you, Governor Lee, for doing the right thing by calling for the removal of the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust from our State's Capitol Building. Nathan Bedford Forrest was one of only a few Tennesseeans memorialized with a bust in the State Capitol building. Someone as notorious as him should not have been on display in a landmark that is supposed to represent our state's values. With that being said, we must not allow the mob rule to completely erase history. Moving this bust to the Tennessee State Museum will ensure that his historical impact on Tennessee will not be forgotten while making sure that visitors to our capitol building know that his values do not represent Tennessee.
