NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – On Tuesday, Tennessee State Representative Jason Powell filed an amendment to fund the planting of trees to shield the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue, located near mile marker 76 along I-65 North, from view of the interstate.
Powell’s tweet called the statue, “one of the most hideous and offensive statues in Nashville.”
The District 53 representative is proposing the amendment for HB 2922/SB 2931.
The statue of the Confederate General sits on private property owned by Bill Dorris.
This is not the first time the idea of hiding the statue by trees has been discussed. in 2016, the mayor of Oak Hill asked then Tennessee Governor, Bill Haslam, to allow for the statue to be hidden from the interstate. The Metro-Nashville council voted to make a similar request in 2015 but the Tennessee Department of Transportation “respectfully denied” the request.
Last week, the Tennessee House committee turned back a recommendation to remove Forrest’s bust from the second floor of the state capitol building with 5 votes in favor and 11 against. The committee did approve a bill eliminating Nathan Bedford Forrest Day, which was then passed on to the state Senate.
The following day, the Tennessee Senate approved a bill that removes the governors’ proclamation of the day but voted to keep the day itself on state books.
