A Tennessee Democrat deftly called out the realities of the Civil War in a state house hearing Tuesday, forcing a Confederate enthusiast to truly consider the legacies he is fighting so hard to protect. Remember, by certain people in certain parts of the United States, the Civil War is framed as a war with heroes on both sides. These soldiers, certain people maintain, were fighting nobly against each other over issues that had absolutely nothing to do with the abolition of chattel slavery. The Confederate flag honors the “lost cause” of that battle, and statues of those soldiers supposedly do the same.
That framing is all wrong, of course. The Confederacy wanted to continue the horrific practice of enslaving human beings—and its soldiers were willing to die for it. Yet, in certain parts of the United States, Confederate battle flags still fly high. In Mississippi, the state flag prominently features the Southern Cross. Hundreds and hundreds of statues of key Confederate figures still abound in the South’s public spaces and most were erected in the 1900s, not in the immediate aftermath of the Civil War, as a Jim Crow intimidation tactic. No matter when these statues were placed—on college campuses, in parks, and on government property—it’s undeniable that to honor the Confederacy is to honor secession. To honor the Confederacy is to honor treason. To honor the Confederacy is to honor the greatest scourge in this nation’s history.
As the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Heidi Beirich put it in 2018, “People across the country are waking up to the reality that these tributes to the Confederacy perpetuate the idea of white supremacy and glorify a regime that supported the torture, murder and enslavement of black people. That’s why white supremacists today continue to wave the Confederate flag. It’s time for courageous political leaders to say enough is enough.”
Which brings us to Tennessee State Rep. Jason Hodges’ highly effective approach to a Confederate historian determined to keep a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest in the state Capitol building. Bedford Forrest, as a reminder, was a Confederate general AND a Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. The bill in question, proposed by Knoxville Democrat Rep. Rick Staples, sought to replace the bust of the KKK leader with someone a bit more representative of human decency … including national treasure Dolly Parton.
Alas, fans of the Confederacy were there to defend the continued tribute to a bonafide traitor to the United States as a super-good idea, including “War Between the States” expert Dr. Michael Bradley. Rep. Hodges shut the historian all the way down.
Can’t watch? There’s a transcript below, which goes beyond the video below.
TENN. REP. JASON HODGES: "I heard you disputing earlier 'how many people were massacred,' not that there weren't people massacred. So what is a good number? How many people can you massacre and still be honored? Just out of curiosity. You're not disputing that the guy didn't massacre people, you're disputing how many. What's a good number to still be honored by the state of Tennessee?"
DR. MICHAEL BRADLEY: “First of all, we do not know how many people were massacred, that is if we’re going to use the term ‘massacre’ at all. Because the term ‘massacre’ is obviously a loaded word. It was never used by some people and it was by others. For many years Forrest was referred to as ‘the Butcher of Fort Pillow.’ ‘Massacre’ was used by the—”
HODGES: “Well let’s go with ‘butcher.’ How many people can I butcher and still be honored by the state of Tennessee?”
BRADLEY: ”Probably a large number because many of our people have done it in the past, including some of those who have statues on the Capitol grounds. And to answer your question: Why don’t you ask the Native Americans about Andrew Jackson, or ask Andrew Johnson about the policies of officers under his command? There are over 500 civilians and Confederate officers of war.
HODGES: ”Because this bill is concerning Nathan Bedford Forrest, sir. Thank you.”
“Fort Pillow,” for those who don’t know, refers to a brutal massacre (or butchering) where “an estimated 275 surrendered Union soldiers, most of whom were black, were ordered by Forrest to be killed.” Ahead of the above exchange, Dr. Bradley was challenging how many people were killed in the battle.
In other Tennessee news, Gov. Bill Lee continues his efforts to establish a statewide Nathan Bedford Forrest Day.