I have been following this story about the MTSU students wanting to change the name of the ROTC building. Currently it is called Forrest Hall. After General Nathan Bedford Forrest who was a Calvary general in the civil war and was of course from Tennessee. The reason for the petition is because he is also known as a slave trader and for having a role in the formation of the Ku Klux Klan. I have what some would see as a surprising opinion about this considering I'm black. I graduated from MTSU and I remember that building. I never thought twice about it when I was there. The reason being is that his name isn't on that building because of his involvement in the KKK. It's on there because of his service in the military. Everything that I have read has described him as a military genius. I also understand that many of his ideals are still being taught to toady's military. One thing has nothing to do with the other. George Washington owned slaves. You don't see anyone trying to take his face off the one dollar bill. Andrew Jackson owned slaves but you don't see people protesting at the Hermitage. Hell, let's take him off the twenty while we're at it. Don't get me wrong I'm not defending Forrest. The Klan was responsible for many acts of terrorism and I'm sure that he had much to do with it. You also have to remember the time in which he lived. It isn't like he was doing this back in the 70's. Funny thing is I don't recall seeing any of these protesters wearing an ROTC uniform. Makes me think that outsiders are the ones pushing for this and the actual members are alright with it. These kids just need to let sleeping dogs lie. They should be gone in 4 to 5 years anyway.
37 comments:
You are absolutely correct. It is refreshing to hear someone actually get it. Who in this world is an angel? "He who is without sin cast the first stone." "The devil meant it for evil but God meant it for good". Thank you for your wisdom. I would be proud to stand next to you in battle, in a park or in my house.
Thanks again,
Curtis Johnson
curtis@villagehomesandland.com
I am a Navy veteran and also a black MTSU alum.
I think the name of the building should be changed, because NBF never served in the US Army, and, in fact, was an enemy of the US Army.
His later Klan foundership notwithstanding, I think it is wrong to honor foes. For whatever it's worth, I think the USS Robert E. Lee never should have been named such, as well.
Curtis
Thank you for the kind words.
Anne
You make a good point. I think if students were protesting that fact that they would garner more support.
Your stance on this issue is interesting, but I must say I am not surprised. You are an educated black man and found that NBF did have something positive to contribute to society, which was his military attributes. A name on a building does not define MTSU as supporter of the KKK or any racial belief.
Anne's comments lead me to believe that we should not honor Andrew Jackson, George Washington, or any other previous leaders of our country that owned slaves. My point is.... THAT IS HISTORY. Slavery is not legal now and never will be again. Stop focusing on the sins of our fathers and start learning about the history that makes us the Americans we are today.
I am glad to see that you are able to separate the reasons for the fame of Bedford Forrest. On the upside, his cavalry tactics were so innovative, yet zero schooling in the matter, that the Army Cav School still teaches them. On the downside, he leant his name to the formation of a social group that tried, in vain, to protect the citizens of the South who were oppressed by Reconstruction. Thank you Lewis for understanding why Southerners are so sensitive when it comes to the War of Northern Aggression.
You are welcome to call in my radio show Saturday Nights on WTN from 9pm to 12a. We will be discussing this at length.
Jake Wylde
Host of Nashville's Nightline
99.7 WTN
When will we see a building on the TSU campus (or any state campus) named for General Rommel? From what I've read, he was a genius as well.
I did a senior paper on Forrest in college based on his cavalry exploits. The man WAS a genius. Sadly, he used that genius for the wrong side.
Most conservatives today would bristle at any hint of someone who expresses sympathy or honor for our enemies. Why do they not do the same for the states that seceded and fought AGAINST the United States of America?
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Nathan Bedford Forrest has been the recipient of a lot of disinformation in recent history. The fact of the matter is that much of what people think they know about him comes more from "Forrest Gump" than it does from actual history. While Forrest was instrumental in forming the Klan, he later abandoned it when it became too violent. This is an excerpt from the Wikipedia entry on Forrest:
"Because of Forrest's prominence, the [KKK] grew rapidly under his leadership. In addition to aiding Confederate widows and orphans of the war, many members of the new group began to use force to oppose the extension of voting rights to blacks, and to resist construction-introduced measures for the ending of segregation. In 1869, Forrest, disagreeing with its increasingly violent tactics, ordered the Klan to disband, stating that it was 'being perverted from its original honorable and patriotic purposes, becoming injurious instead of subservient to the public peace.' Many of its groups in other parts of the country ignored the order and continued to function. Subsequently, Forrest distanced himself from the KKK.
Forrest's abandonment of the Klan may not have reflected a shift in his critical attitude toward the Reconstruction policies of the Federal and Tennessee governments, but it did accompany a significant development in his views on race in his final years. Forrest came to see freed blacks as the key to economic recovery and said so frequently in public comments, increasingly to the dismay of some ex-Confederates. Perhaps the best known instance of this new side of Forrest in his final years was his appearance at a convention in Memphis of a black civic organization, the Independent Order of Pole-Bearers Association on July 5, 1875. Forrest made a brief but remarkable speech, which highlighted his emerging views on the race question:
'I came here with the jeers of some white people, who think that I am doing wrong. I believe I can exert some influence, and do much to assist the people in strengthening fraternal relations, and shall do all in my power to elevate every man to depress none. I want to elevate you to take positions in law offices, in stores, on farms, and wherever you are capable of going. I have not said anything about politics today ... Do as you consider right and honest in electing men for office. I did not come here to make you a long speech, although invited to do so by you ... I came to meet you as friends, and welcome you to the white people. I want you to come nearer to us. When I can serve you I will do so. We have but one flag, one country; let us stand together. We may differ in color, but not in sentiment Many things have been said about me which are wrong, and which white and black persons here, who stood by me through the war, can contradict. Go to work, be industrious, live honestly and act truly, and when you are oppressed I'll come to your relief.'"
He was not perfect by any means (who is?), but he did attempt to always do the honorable thing and seemed to truly make an effort at the end of his life to be repentant. It's a shame that such he has been so vilified in contemporary times.
Nathan Forrest was an uneducated rogue of a man that never did anything that wasn’t designed to benefit Nathan Forrest. His only redeeming quality was that he was supremely talented in the area of killing folks. Of course, in times of war, this becomes a virtue.
I do agree with his supporters that convoluted history plays into this issue. He’ll always be a hero to the bigots. However, if more moderate southern whites knew more scholarly history, rather than the mythology that grew up in the age of social Darwinism, support for honoring Forrest would erode.
Nathan Bedford Forrest is not a "hero to bigots". He was a remarkable general that has influenced military tactics for well over 100 years. People are so quick to link the KKK with a racial organization (for obvious reasons), but in reality there were two distinct periods of the KKK. Nathan Forrest formed an organization to help impoverished southerners after the civil war. People were starving and there were a large number of widows and fatherless children who needed help. Remember, the North may have won the war, but they took a beating in the process and many of them wanted to punish anyone from the south in anyway possible, including women and children. All of this good is forgotten because 40 years later the KKK turned into an evil organization aimed at blacks, jews, and catholics. In the end remember that MTSU is a university with a rich history and culture. Murfreesboro and the state of Tennessee should stop being ashamed of the Southern history that we have. We (people whose familiy lived in the South long before the South was a "cool" place to live) have a right to be proud of our history and should not have to modify what happened here over 140 years ago. If Forrest Hall offends you than by all means pick another university to attend, the last thing that we need at MTSU is narrow minded people who can not accept other people's heritage.
Thanks for the history lesson. Actually, I didn’t mention the KKK at all in my post.
It’s always the bigots that bring that up.
Here’s something to chew on: I’ll go where I want and say what I want when I want, without regard to your approval. Got it? Good!
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