by Mark Habelt
Middle Tennessee State University is trying again to remove the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate lieutenant general and former Klan leader. His name is on the school’s Army ROTC building.
This is the university’s second attempt, as it unsuccessfully filed a similar petition in 2018.
In a recent hearing before the Tennessee Historical Commission, MTSU argued its case to obtain a waiver under the state’s Heritage Protection Act to rename Forrest Hall.
University representatives will participate in a final hearing before the commission early next year. The commission will issue a ruling within 30 days. To gain the authority to rename Forrest Hall, MTSU would need to obtain a 2/3rds vote in its favor from the commission, or at least 20 votes from the 29-member board.
MTSU media representatives did not respond to two emailed inquiries sent in the past two weeks.
The College Fix asked whether Forrest Hall is the only building for which the university is seeking a waiver for a name change from the Tennessee Historical Commission. Additionally, The Fix asked whether the university plans to change the name of the building to commemorate a specific person.
As a Confederate leader, Forrest (pictured above) oversaw a massacre of black and white troops, even after the Union had surrendered. He was later a high-ranking leader in the Ku Klux Klan.
Near the end of his life, however, Forrest renounced his past support for racial discrimination against black Americans and advocated for the integration of America’s law schools.
In its petition for a waiver from the commission, MTSU stated “the interest of commemorating a famous Tennessean who has been dead for over 140 years is outweighed by the interest of thousands of citizens… who deem such commemoration . . . hurtful.”
The interest of these “thousands of citizens” proves “a substantial need based on compelling public interest,” to rename Forrest Hall. Under the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act, this “substantial need” standard must be met in order for the commission to authorize the removal of Forrest’s name from the ROTC building.
The rationale behind the Tennessee Historical Commission’s decision to deny MTSU’s waiver request in 2018 rested partially on the fact that a substantial majority of alumni of the school’s Military Science program opposed the renaming, according to an internal survey commissioned by the school’s Military Science Alumni Chapter.
Moreover, the commission at the time noted that the university failed to prove any racial intent behind Forrest Hall’s original naming.
The university has now moved to tailor its argument before the commission by citing changed circumstances in American civil society. In its most recent petition for a waiver, the university argues that the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd in recent years have initiated a nationwide racial reckoning and necessitated the removal of Confederate figures from public view.
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College Fix contributor Mark Habelt is a student at Arizona State University studying political science and global studies. Mark served as a communications intern at both Students for Life of America and the Goldwater Institute.
Image “Nathan Bedford Forrest” by Histories of Generals and MTSU Campus” is by MTSU.
If an argument relies on a favorable opinion of George Floyd, it is specious.
Well said, fellow commentors!
Thank you Randall. The powers that be don’t want the people to remember the great skilled masculine leaders of our country’s history. Males today must be conditioned to be weak, effeminate, and unable to fight back against an oppressive government.
Since MTSU is a taxpayer funded institution, I hope our Tennessee Genersl Assembly will pass a law that bans the destruction of our Confederate History on all State owned property.
The CIVIL War was not fought over slavery. As a matter of fact, there were many free Black plantation owners in Tennessee who had slaves. And they fought on the side of the Confederacy. When the Union Army won the war, President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation allowing slaves to leave their owners if they wished. Many chose to stay with their Masters.
Lest we forget, the African slaves got here due to the slave industry in Africa. Africans who owned slaves sold them on the market to make themselves rich.
Slavery at the time was legal all over the world. The United States is the first country in the world to make it illegal to “own” slaves. But there were white slaves as well. Many Irish immigrants became indentured servants, in order to come to America.
So before the Virtuous begin to wag their finger to shame those of us who want to remember those brave Southern men who fought a legal war for the South, who wanted to secede from the Union.
I’ m sure you virtuous haters are aware that slavery still exists today. You virtuous people support slavery every time you purchase China made products.
At the current time, China owns millions of muslim slaves (ouigers), & yet China is still allowed to do trade with America & Europe. The China slaves make most of the items that Americans consume like Iphones & Nike athletic wear. You virtuous Marxists that want to destroy our history should be boycotting China made products. But no you can’t give up your IPhone, while China mistreats the Ouigers, killing those that can’t produce, harvesting their organs to sell on the black market. Yet we don’t hear a peep out of your virtuous mouths about that slavery. So look at your own sins rather than shaming we the taxpayers and descendants of those who lost their lives in a legal war (according to the 2nd Amendment) bc they wanted to secede from the Union due to what they deemed a Tyrannical government.
President Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, knew he had to heal the wounds between the North & the South. He said United we stand, divided we fall. The same holds true today. Many efforts by Marxists, are constantly trying to Divide Americans. Thankfully, we have this document called the US Constitution that has allowed this nation to survive, & represent freedom all around the world. The globalists hate Freedom & they are doing desperate things to try to break us down. We Will Stand bc we learn from history. People try to make the Confederate Flag into a racist symbol. It is not. Some say the Gadsden Flag is racist. It is not. Some even burn our sacred American Flag, bc they hate the Freedom it represents.
So if you think slavery is a bad thing, and it is. get off your Marxist asses and go yell at the real slave owners in China.
The only slaves in America today are sex slaves. So ask your President to stop that slavery.
As an Alumni of MTSU, I am outraged that a few woke Marxists continue to rewrite History. LEAVE OIR HISTORY ALONE. This last little trick citing current deaths of 3 black people, not from Tennessee, in order to use racism to leverage pressure, is incomprehensible.
LEAVE OUR HISTORY ALONE
My first point is George Floyd was not killed by any cops. I encourage everyone watch the documentary ” THE FALL OF MINNEAPOLIS. ” The real facts, the Medical Examiners Report, which states that THERE WAS NO OBSTRUCTION TO GEORGE FLOYDs AIRWAY. His toxicology report showed he had enough FENTANYL in his system to kill 3 men. Additionally, Floyd had methamphetamine at a high level. He also had serious heart issues including HBP. The ME cited Cause of Death to be attributed to his serious heart issues in combination with the deadly drugs. His Lung were filled with fluid, which is why he couldn’t breathe.
George F was arrested by a Black officer for trying to purchase items with counterfiet money. George F who had an extensive criminal record, would not comply to the officers commands, so the officer called for back up. Floyd was saying “I cant breathe” long before back up got there. George F was resisting 4 cops trying to get him in the squad car. He kept fighting, so they laid him on the ground & employed a Restraint manuever they were trained on called MAXIMUM RESTRAINT TECHNIQUE (MRT). Every Minnesota Police Officer is trained in this technique. It’s in their training manual. The officers called Dispatch to send an ambulance. There was some mix-up between Dispatch & Emergency Responders, & it took a lot longer to get there than it should have. The officers started CPR on Floyd while waiting on the paramedics.
The media apparently didn’t wait to get the facts. They accused Derek Chauvin of killing Floyd bc he was the white cop who conducted the MRT where an officer puts pressure on the shoulder to hold the head down, & since he was a white cop, they called it RACISM. I happened to see the ME report briefly on Facebook before it was quickly taken down. SHAME ON THE MEDIA.
The result was an unbelievable violent RIOT. The cops were ordered to stand down, while the city literally burned around them. Then the BLM Marxists began to chant Defund the Cops, & the Democrats jumped on board with the entire insanity, making a hero out of a thug. Floyd’s family was awarded $27 M the day the trial started. SHAME ON DEMOCRATS, especially the Governor Keith Ellison.
All four officers 1 black, 1 Asian & 2 white were arrested & charged with murder, & wrongly convicted. Sacrificial Lambs for the Marxists and the media never mentioned the arresting officer was black.
Then the trial. With concrete barriers & fencing with barbed wire surrounding the Court House, & the jury was not sequestered, there was no way these guys would get a fair trial. The coward judge would not move the trial out of Minneapolis. The Chief of Police perjured himself on the stand when he said MRT not an approved restraint.
Derek Chauvin received 22 years because his picture while restraining Floyd went viral. About a week ago he was stabbed 22 times & was in critical condition.
The other officers sentences were much lower than Chauvins. Four good men & their families lives were destroyed bc we have a corrupt & incompetent media & politicians who couldn’t ” LET A CRISIS GO TO WASTE”.
Hopefully, these facts coming out in this documentary will give these great cops, who were doing their job, back their freedom. They should sue the city of Minneapolis, the Governor, the Judge & the media & BLM & other Race hustlers.
Our Justice System has now been weaponized against Americans.
It’s time for Derek Chauvin & his colleagues to get their freedom & their lives back.
Forrest asked Ft Pillow to surrender. They chose NOT TO. What happened afterward was the responsibility of the Union leaders, not Forrest. Mtsu showing their true colors of no inclusion and no diversity. Leave Forrest out of your screwed up, one sided view of history.
Ft. Pililow was asked to surrender. They had a chance, they did not. Tell the entire story. Their troops were leaving the fort and attacking local families. This is a pitiful, divisive move by mtsu.