Identity Politics Unchained; TN Gov. Honors KKK Wizard

[Milchshake]

Ongoing In: When A Crypto Fascist Memorializes a Fascist Outloud

The KKK definitely qualifies as a fascist organization. Prof Umberto Eco agrees!.
Compounded with Nazis and Mussolini being directly inspired by Confederacy. And then Nazis courting the KKK in 1930s America.

Given the ugly history of the KKK. Why would the Governor of Tennessee name a day in of honor to the KKK's founder. Why cant people just put the dog whistle down?


The day of observation calls on Tennesseans to honor Nathan Bedford Forrest, a slave-owning war criminal and Klan grand wizard.
Despite public outcry, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee (R) re-signed a proclamation Thursday declaring July 13 as Nathan Bedford Forrest Day in the state, honoring the Ku Klux Klan grand wizard and former Confederate general.

Each year, according to state law, the governor is supposed to sign six such proclamations for days of observation, three of which are in honor of the Confederacy, according to The Tennessean. Though they’re mostly symbolic, the governor says he signs them out of a sense of duty.
“I signed the bill because the law requires that I do that and I haven’t looked at changing that law,” Lee told The Tennessean on Thursday.

His decision was roundly panned by the media. New York Times columnist Jamelle Bouie tweeted: “Very cool that Tennessee has a day honoring a confederate war criminal and founder of America’s oldest and deadliest terrorist group.”

Forrest is known to history as a bloodthirsty slave trader and the KKK’s very first grand wizard. In 1864, he led Confederate soldiers to commit what’s known as the Fort Pillow Massacre, according to The Washington Post. Three hundred Union soldiers, including 200 black soldiers, were murdered there, often at point-blank range.

Residents have been petitioning to remove two statues of Forrest ― including a bust from the state Capitol ― for years. But Lee defends Confederate monuments and the Ku Klux Klan as “part of our history.”

...

The governor’s hands aren’t tied in signing such a proclamation. As The Holler points out, plenty of governors have declined to sign them in the past, especially on proclamations they don’t personally agree with. In January, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) refused to sign a proclamation in honor of the book “This Blessed Earth: A Year in the Life of an American Family Farm,” by journalist Ted Genoways, because it contained criticism of President Donald Trump, according to The Hill.
Reached for comment, Gov. Lee’s spokeswoman released a stock statement reiterating that the governor is required to sign the proclamation:
“Tennessee governors are required by statute to issue a series of proclamations each year, including Nathan Bedford Forrest Day,” said spokeswoman Laine Arnold. “The proclamation that was issued complies with this obligation and is in keeping with prior years.”

Plenty of governors declined to implement any part of ACA they could stop.

Why dont they just call this "Economic Anxiety" Day?

[Lanrefni]

That governor is either
A. A giant coward
B. A racist piece of shit
or
C. All of the above.

[Zaydin]

And of course you have Trumpkins declaring "The Democrats are the party of the KKK!".

As if any Klansmen voted for Obama.

[Independent voter]

Nathan Bedford Forest was a Civil War war hero.

Forest Gump was named after him.

Some colonel was mad at Forest because Forest had ordered him to assault a position. During the assault most of the colonel's men were killed. So the colonel was out for revenge. He ambushed Forest at camp, stabbing Forest in the stomach with a knife. Back in that day a stomach wound meant a long slow death. This pissed Forest off. Forest chased the colonel around the camp shooting at him. Eventually he shot and killed the colonel. Doctors looked at the wound and told him that somehow the blade had managed to miss all of Forest's intestines and Forest would live.

It's like admiring Rommel. A Nazi and an admirer of Hitler who was also a wonderful military commander.

Nathan Bedford Forest was a self made man. He made his money from trading slaves. There's no excuse for what he did. However, he was an amazing general.

[DarkTZeratul]

Nathan Bedford Forest was a self made man. He made his money from trading slaves. There's no excuse for what he did. However, he was an amazing general.

Sure. And if that's all he did, then this wouldn't be a big deal.

Except he also founded the fucking Ku Klux Klan, which kind of overshadows any war-time heroism that might be reasonably celebrated.

[PACOX]

Not wanting to put the Betsy Ross flag on a shoe "TREASON"

Honoring actual domestic terrorists - "Let's pass legislation honoring them".

Must be a frustrating existence to be so crass.

[Thekri]

Nathan Bedford Forest was a Civil War war hero.

Forest Gump was named after him.

Some colonel was mad at Forest because Forest had ordered him to assault a position. During the assault most of the colonel's men were killed. So the colonel was out for revenge. He ambushed Forest at camp, stabbing Forest in the stomach with a knife. Back in that day a stomach wound meant a long slow death. This pissed Forest off. Forest chased the colonel around the camp shooting at him. Eventually he shot and killed the colonel. Doctors looked at the wound and told him that somehow the blade had managed to miss all of Forest's intestines and Forest would live.

It's like admiring Rommel. A Nazi and an admirer of Hitler who was also a wonderful military commander.

Nathan Bedford Forest was a self made man. He made his money from trading slaves. There's no excuse for what he did. However, he was an amazing general.

So Nathan Bedford Forrest was a very good cavalry man, and very good fighter. However that is not in any way what he is being honored for. The massacre of black Union Prisoners and his early leadership of the KKK is why he is memorialized throughout the south. A perfect example of this is the legacy of Longstreet, a man that was incredibly valuable to the confederacy and a brilliant general, yet his more enlightened policies toward southern blacks and his stance on reconstruction has made him anathema to the south. There are dozens of generals that should be more revered then Forrest, who had very little impact on the confederate war effort for all his efforts. But it was never about his tactical skill or bravery, it was about his role in maintaining the supremacy of the white race in the South. His Statues and memorials were mostly created in the 1920s through the 1960s to remind black populations who was in charge.

I am never a person that advocates seeing historical figures as one dimensional characters, and as cavalryman myself, I did study Forrest's tactics and operations, and I unabashedly admire his skill and courage as a cavalryman. However as moral human being he is one of the most repugnant individuals that came out of the civil war, with his entire live filled with absolute atrocities against the weak and helpless. Naming a day after him cannot ignore this. How would you feel if Saudi Arabia had an a day of commemoration for Osama Bin Laden on the grounds that he was an excellent social media influencer and religious scholar? I mean that is obviously not what anyone considers appropriate.

[Wyrt]

And Republicans wonder why their party gets called racist.

[Kaleredar]

Nathan Bedford Forest was a Civil War war hero.

Forest Gump was named after him.

...you do know that, in the film, that's presented as an ironic bit of collar-tugging humor, as the gentle-heated Forest is naive to the infamous nature of his namesake?

Some colonel was mad at Forest because Forest had ordered him to assault a position. During the assault most of the colonel's men were killed. So the colonel was out for revenge. He ambushed Forest at camp, stabbing Forest in the stomach with a knife. Back in that day a stomach wound meant a long slow death. This pissed Forest off. Forest chased the colonel around the camp shooting at him. Eventually he shot and killed the colonel. Doctors looked at the wound and told him that somehow the blade had managed to miss all of Forest's intestines and Forest would live.

It's like admiring Rommel. A Nazi and an admirer of Hitler who was also a wonderful military commander.

Nathan Bedford Forest was a self made man. He made his money from trading slaves. There's no excuse for what he did. However, he was an amazing general.

I'd say being a slave profiteer, traitor to the United States, and founder of the KKK kind of precludes "he had some good military tactics," seeing as there are any number of American military officers you could praise who weren't those first three things.

So, frankly, the choice to praise this guy, specifically, comes off as extremely suspect.

[PACOX]

Nathan Bedford Forest was a Civil War war hero.

Forest Gump was named after him.

Some colonel was mad at Forest because Forest had ordered him to assault a position. During the assault most of the colonel's men were killed. So the colonel was out for revenge. He ambushed Forest at camp, stabbing Forest in the stomach with a knife. Back in that day a stomach wound meant a long slow death. This pissed Forest off. Forest chased the colonel around the camp shooting at him. Eventually he shot and killed the colonel. Doctors looked at the wound and told him that somehow the blade had managed to miss all of Forest's intestines and Forest would live.

It's like admiring Rommel. A Nazi and an admirer of Hitler who was also a wonderful military commander.

Nathan Bedford Forest was a self made man. He made his money from trading slaves. There's no excuse for what he did. However, he was an amazing general.

Forest help found an organization and ideology that terrorized, tortured, raped, and murdered American citizens.

Rommel at the very least, with the best advocate in his corner, turned a blind eye toward the Holocaust. Passive involvement is still involvement.

Neither men deserve acclaim, certainly not to be called heroes. Stats do not make a man great..

That's like claiming Osama deserves acclaim because he managed to attack the US.

Keep on admiring deplorable figures though.

[Kaleredar]

Keep on admiring deplorable figures though.

I think it's less "admiration" and more "republican apologist."

"Sure a republican did something terrible... but... but... if you think about it this way, then it's really not so bad, right? So let's just give my political party a brake then, okay?!"

[draynay]

Nathan Bedford Forest was a self made man. He made his money from trading slaves.

I guess we're just ignoring this inherent contradiction?

he was an amazing general.

Your citation for this was his knack for getting men killed and managing not to die himself; not a high bar for generalship, though there is no doubting he was a remarkable soldier.

[Crissi]

I guess we're just ignoring this inherent contradiction?



Your citation for this was his knack for getting men killed and managing not to die himself; not a high bar for generalship, though there is no doubting he was a remarkable soldier.

J.E.B Stuart is the better cavalry guy from the Confederate Army anyways. Also has the plus of not actually committing a warcrime.

ALso, there has bound to be a random tenessee confed they could nominate instead of KKK dude as a loophole until they nix this stupid ass law.

[Independent voter]

Forest help found an organization and ideology that terrorized, tortured, raped, and murdered American citizens.

Rommel at the very least, with the best advocate in his corner, turned a blind eye toward the Holocaust. Passive involvement is still involvement.

Neither men deserve acclaim, certainly not to be called heroes. Stats do not make a man great..

That's like claiming Osama deserves acclaim because he managed to attack the US.

Keep on admiring deplorable figures though.

From the history I've read, Rommel was a big supporter of Hitler early on. It's said that he was involved in a plot to kill Hitler at the end of the war. The plot was found out and the Nazis gave him the option of killing himself. I think they threatened his family.

You can take a nuanced approach to these guys. You can like their military skills and dislike their racist attitudes.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson owned slaves too. Are we going to take their portraits off our money?

[Xyonai]

From the history I've read, Rommel was a big supporter of Hitler early on. It's said that he was involved in a plot to kill Hitler at the end of the war. The plot was found out and the Nazis gave him the option of killing himself. I think they threatened his family.

You can take a nuanced approach to these guys. You can like their military skills and dislike their racist attitudes.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson owned slaves too. Are we going to take their portraits off our money?

This argument's fucking stupid and I'm damn sure you know it.

Washington and Jefferson were founders of our country, Forest was some traitorous fuck-ass who decided to take his hatred of Black People beyond the civil war and start up one of this country's most notorious domestic terrorist groups. The one lacking the capacity to understand nuance is you, assuming you actually believe this tripe and aren't just intentionally saying stupid crap to rile people up.

[Crissi]

From the history I've read, Rommel was a big supporter of Hitler early on. It's said that he was involved in a plot to kill Hitler at the end of the war. The plot was found out and the Nazis gave him the option of killing himself. I think they threatened his family.

You can take a nuanced approach to these guys. You can like their military skills and dislike their racist attitudes.

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson owned slaves too. Are we going to take their portraits off our money?

Even taking into account the time, he committed a war crime and nearly got the South into a whole lot of trouble that would have killed Southern POWs in the north. Lincoln was very close to doing an eye for an eye trade. So yeah, kind of piss poor when compared to JEB Stuart. There are better people to honor.

[Independent voter]

This argument's fucking stupid and I'm damn sure you know it.

Washington and Jefferson were founders of our country, Forest was some traitorous fuck-ass who decided to take his hatred of Black People beyond the civil war and start up one of this country's most notorious domestic terrorist groups. The one lacking the capacity to understand nuance is you, assuming you actually believe this tripe and aren't just intentionally saying stupid crap to rile people up.

Okay. I'll stop sharing my views.

[Spectral]

Except he also founded the fucking Ku Klux Klan...

This isn't true. I'm not really sure how it became common knowledge, but here's the background. He was an early leader of the KKK and I have no impulse to celebrate the man, but wanted to be clear about the history.

[Crissi]

This isn't true. I'm not really sure how it became common knowledge, but here's the background. He was an early leader of the KKK and I have no impulse to celebrate the man, but wanted to be clear about the history.

Not sure being the first Grand Wizard and birthed that nickname because of the war performance is any better. By being the 1st real prominent member of the party and the defacto leader of it, he may as well have been one of the founders.

[Polyxo]

I'm declaring July 13th Nat Turner day instead.