Tennessee lawmakers punish city of Memphis for removing Confederate statues

[Travis B]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/18/us/me...rnd/index.html

Late last year, Memphis took down a pair of Confederate statues from a park.

On Tuesday, lawmakers in the Tennessee House passed an amendment to a state appropriations bill that strips $250,000 in funding that the city was to receive for its upcoming bicentennial celebration.

One of the amendment's sponsors, state Rep. Steve McDaniel, admitted this was in retaliation for Memphis removing the Confederate statues.

"If you recall back in December, Memphis did something that removed historical markers in the city," McDaniel said on the House floor. "It was the city of Memphis that did this and it was full knowing that it was not the will of the legislature."

That generated an angry response from Memphis representatives.

"This amendment, and the explanation, is hateful, it is unkind, it is un-Christian-like and it is unfair," said state Rep. Raumesh Akbari. "Memphis is a city in this state, and I'm sick of people in this House acting like it's not."

The skirmish over the amendment highlights the tension that often arises between the mostly-black, Democratic city and the largely-white and rural conservative Republicans that dominate the state legislature.

Although the controversial amendment passed in the House -- by a vote of 56-31 -- the appropriations bill that it's attached to is still working its way through the legislature.

Crews removed the statues -- of Civil War general and Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest from Memphis' Health Science Park and of Confederate leader Jefferson Davis from Memphis Park -- in the middle of the night in late December.

The removals came after years of disputes over what to do with the controversial statues. The city took an unconventional route that critics said was illegal. But Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland insisted the entire process was within the bounds of the law.

City leaders voted in 2013 to change the name of three parks that honored Confederate figures in Memphis. Then, in 2015, they voted to move the Forrest statue. To proceed with the removal, they sought a waiver from the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act, a law that governs the removal, relocation or renaming of memorials on public property. But the Tennessee Historical Commission denied the city's request.

The denial led the city council to pass legislation in September allowing it to sell parkland to a nonprofit for less than fair market value, Strickland said. In addition to letting the city sell land to a private entity, the law allowed the private entity to remove statutes from its land.

The Memphis City Council then voted unanimously to sell the two parks to a nonprofit, paving the way for the statues' removal. Strickland said the parks were sold for $1,000 each to Memphis Greenspace, a nonprofit led by a Shelby County commissioner. The organization was incorporated after the law's passage in October, Strickland said.

Memphis celebrates its bicentennial in 2019.

Pretty fucking vindictive and petty of these lawmakers to take away funding from the city just for taking down two Confederate statues.

[PACOX]

Statues should have never been placed on public land. Their only purpose is to antagonize people. Punishing a city for removing the statue of a traitor is a touch of crazy, just a touch, and burden I would be glad for my city to take.

[DrStiglit]

What a state... Punishes a city for removing a statue of a KKK leader and the rebuttal is that it’s “un-Christian”...

[Gaexion Ramza Beoulve]

I despise these leftist cowards and everything they stand for, I'm pro-statue because it teaches history and how important it is not to let these monsters return.

A living history that burns and hurts is the best way to prevent that evil from ever returning

That being said, they did everything legally and I fully support their right to remove the statue because they did it THE RIGHT WAY.

[Sunseeker]

They should blow the statues up for funsies and distribute small pieces to everyone who voted in favor of the legislation.

If we're gonna fight pettiness with more pettiness then we might as well go full-bore.

[Masark]

I despise these leftist cowards and everything they stand for, I'm pro-statue because it teaches history and how important it is not to let these monsters return.

A living history that burns and hurts is the best way to prevent that evil from ever returning

The statues appear to have been totally ineffective at that task. You might try using accurate history textbooks instead.

[pathora44]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/04/18/us/me...rnd/index.html




Pretty fucking vindictive and petty of these lawmakers to take away funding from the city just for taking down two Confederate statues.

Good job Southern states continue to prove how absolutely ass backwards you are. "No there is nothing racist or threatening about putting up statues of men who fought to keep black people as slaves. I promise you it was only a coincidence that the vast majority of them were put up during the height of Jim Crow Laws and later during the Civil Rights Movement. Two major historical eras where we were trying to reassert white dominance over black people."

[Gorgodeus]

I grew up in a suburb of Memphis, and stuff like this happening is not surprising at all. Nashville and its' politicians have always tried to screw Memphis over due to Memphis being the largest city in the state, and being capable of competing for things such as pro sports teams, big businesses, etc.

[Endus]

I like how the use of "lawmakers" in the title implies that the city of Memphis faced legal penalties for breaking the law, when in truth, this was a petty, vindictive move by overt racists, upset that emblems of racism are no longer in the public eye.

[Belize]

I grew up in a suburb of Memphis, and stuff like this happening is not surprising at all. Nashville and its' politicians have always tried to screw Memphis over due to Memphis being the largest city in the state, and being capable of competing for things such as pro sports teams, big businesses, etc.

Nashville is just mad their BBQ sucks more than their country singers.

[Somewhatconcerned]

I despise these leftist cowards and everything they stand for, I'm pro-statue because it teaches history and how important it is not to let these monsters return.

A living history that burns and hurts is the best way to prevent that evil from ever returning

That being said, they did everything legally and I fully support their right to remove the statue because they did it THE RIGHT WAY.

Except those statues weren't placed to teach, but rather to adore and romanticize about the "good ole days."

[Dragon Claws]

Awful lot of folks in here who do not live in TN, GA, or in the Southeast in general.

It's history, it's culture, it's there as a reminder, an educational tool, and whatever else you want to believe. But hey, glad to see armchair politics in MMO-C are just as sterling as ever.

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Good job Southern states continue to prove how absolutely ass backwards you are.

Want to talk backwards? I could point you to California.

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Their only purpose is to antagonize people.

Funny how people didn't have an issue with those statues until recently. Georgia had the Confederate flag and state seal as the state flag for several years until people complained about it. I say let people raise a fuss, keep the statues up. We won't deny what we did, fought for, bled for, and died for, even if it was wrong.

[Jastall]

I despise these leftist cowards and everything they stand for, I'm pro-statue because it teaches history and how important it is not to let these monsters return.

A living history that burns and hurts is the best way to prevent that evil from ever returning

That being said, they did everything legally and I fully support their right to remove the statue because they did it THE RIGHT WAY.

I find it hard to believe these statues teach about history when most of them romanticize the hell out of the South. A museum, where the pieces can be put in a more appropriate context, is a far more effective educational tool than ''look at how cool this guy looks''.

[Endus]

Awful lot of folks in here who do not live in TN, GA, or in the Southeast in general.

It's history, it's culture, it's there as a reminder, and whatever else.

Berlin gets by fine without putting up statues that celebrate Hitler and Goebbels et al.

Unless the statue is putting CSA leaders in a negative light, by showing them as the surrendering traitors they were, it's misrepresenting the history you're claiming they represent. These men were not anyone that should be celebrated or respected.

[Ivanstone]

Funny how people didn't have an issue with those statues until recently. Georgia had the Confederate flag and state seal as the state flag for several years until people complained about it. I say let people raise a fuss, keep the statues up. We won't deny what we did, fought for, bled for, and died for, even if it was wrong.

Funny how you don't consider African Americans to be people.

At least you admit that the treasonous CSA and the KKK terrorists were wrong. That's progress I guess.

[Dragon Claws]

Unless the statue is putting CSA leaders in a negative light, by showing them as the surrendering traitors they were, it's misrepresenting the history you're claiming they represent. These men were not anyone that should be celebrated or respected.

I wouldn't call them traitors if they fought what they thought was right. Plus with the several variables that caused the Civil War, slavery was a drop in the bucket compared to the various other problems.

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Funny how you don't consider African Americans to be people.

Your words, not mine.

[Machismo]

Awful lot of folks in here who do not live in TN, GA, or in the Southeast in general.

It's history, it's culture, it's there as a reminder, an educational tool, and whatever else you want to believe. But hey, glad to see armchair politics in MMO-C are just as sterling as ever.

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Want to talk backwards? I could point you to California.

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Funny how people didn't have an issue with those statues until recently. Georgia had the Confederate flag and state seal as the state flag for several years until people complained about it. I say let people raise a fuss, keep the statues up. We won't deny what we did, fought for, bled for, and died for, even if it was wrong.

So, it's a culture of racism and believing people should be considered property?

[GennGreymane]

I like the history argument

Why do so many states (certain ones) have incredibly outdated textbooks in school?

[Machismo]

I wouldn't call them traitors if they fought what they thought was right. Plus with the several variables that caused the Civil War, slavery was a drop in the bucket compared to the various other problems.

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Your words, not mine.

Well, they were technically traitors. They were treasonous secessionists who wanted to keep slavery legal, and were willing to kill to make it happen.

Slavery was the main reason, don't try to ignore that. If you don't believe me, look at declarations of secession.

[Ivanstone]

Your words, not mine.

If the white hood fits, wear it.

Its an issue now because there's a sufficient number of white southerners finally feeling the shame the south should've felt decades ago.