Ted Cruz Slams Tennessee Law Honoring Confederate General, KKK Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forest

[EdJames]

Ted Cruz Slams Tennessee Law Honoring Confederate General, KKK Grand Wizard Nathan Bedford Forest

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/timothymeads/2019/07/13/ted-cruz-slams-tennessee-for-honoring-confederate-general-kkk-grand-wizard-nathan-bedford-forest-n2550007



Timothy Meads | Posted: Jul 13, 2019 12:00 PM

Excerpt:

Mandated by law, Saturday, July 13 is "Nathan Forrest Bedford Day" Tennessee with an annual proclamation issued by the governor each year. On Friday evening, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas slammed Governor Bill Lee for signing the announcement once again.

    This is WRONG. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Confederate general & a delegate to the 1868 Democratic Convention. He was also a slave trader & the 1st Grand Wizard of the KKK. Tennessee should not have an official day (tomorrow) honoring him. Change the law. https://t.co/XBgoRCBoI0
    — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 12, 2019

But why did he have to sign the law? Fox News has the details:

[Wingnut]

Ted.  Worry about Texas.  K?

[Sanguine]

Ted.  Worry about Texas.  K?

Yeah, but he's right.

[Wingnut]

Yeah, but he's right.

So you say.  Are you woke?

[EdJames]

Yeah, but he's right.

I'm not so sure about that....  I think that history has given Forrest a short shrift....

“In 1871 a Congressional investigation was convened to look into Forrest’s alleged involvement with the Klan and to revisit the Ft. Pillow “massacre.” The investigation was chaired by Forrest’s old enemy, William Tecumseh Sherman, who told the press that, “We are here to investigate Forrest, charge Forrest, try Forrest, convict Forrest, and hang Forrest.”

The outcome of the 1871 investigation was twofold. The committee found no evidence that Forrest had participated in the formation of the Klan and that even the use of his name may well have been without his permission. They also found that there was no credible evidence that Forrest had ever participated in or directed any actions of the Klan.

“The reports of Committees, House of Representatives, second session, forty-second congress,” P. 7-449.

http://www.flatfenders.com/scv/forrest%20defense.htm

[Applewood]

Ted, shut up and go get a shave.

[Jazzhead]

So you say.  Are you woke?

You don't need to be "woke" to think Nathan Bedford Forrest was a worm.   

[Jazzhead]

Ted, shut up and go get a shave.

Ted, shout it loud and proud but, yeah, go get a shave. 

[mountaineer]

 What,  exactly,  is the point of crucifying the already dead?

[Applewood]

What,  exactly,  is the point of crucifying the already dead?

True.  None of our historic figures were perfect.  Many of them were slave owners, for example.  But I detest this effort to remove them from our history.  History is history, warts and all, and when we try to remove all trace of chunks of it, we do ourselves and particularly our younger generations a great disservice. 

[Bigun]

Ted.  Worry about Texas.  K?

Somebody needs to tell Ted that minding one's own business is a very good thing.

[mountaineer]

I've been researching my genealogy and, thus far,  haven't found any ancestors who fought for the US in the Civil War - all CSA. I had no idea.
Hey, I know,  let's pretend they never existed!

[TomSea]

I'm not so sure about that....  I think that history has given Forrest a short shrift....

Lengthy discussion at:  https://historicstruggle.wordpress.com/2012/07/17/nathan-bedford-forrest-on-trial-part-1/

@EdJames  You may be correct but I consider it at the least, an open matter. Congress in 1871? Maybe they just didn't care to stir things up.

Yeah, but he's right.

He's absolutely right. He's criticized white supremacist types before in the aftermath of Charlottesville. All of these things connect to his constituency. He represents all in TX.

The Massacre at Fort Pillow:Holding Nathan Bedford Forrest Accountable
https://campusnet.sebts.edu/pluginfile.php/201781/mod_resource/content/10/CMS%20paper.pdf

So, congress had an investigation post-CW Construction era on the Ft. Pillow Massacre. We are to take that as being true? Remind me how long it was until Southern Senators started voting for the rights of African Americans?  1870s or 1970s?

 I have heard Bedford distanced himself from his past after his life. That I think is said in the wikipedia bio.

Fort Pillow is not the only instance of a massacre or threatened massacre of black soldiers by troops under Forrest’s command.Biographer Brian Steel Wills points out that at Brice’s Cross Roads in June 1864, “black soldiers suffered inordinately” as Forrest looked the other way and Confederate soldiers deliberately sought out those they termed “the damned negroes.”19

From the above essay. To really delve into this, as I've said before, I have lurked some and researched from the Civil War forum. That's a stopping-off point to note.

I don't even know, if there is a Nathan Bedford museum or something, if they'd even say Bedford wasn't involved in some of these acts.

[TomSea]

It's like Rush says, the confederate flag like it or not, is the legacy of the Democrats. I fully respect that flag, I see nothing wrong with saying what Rush did. Nathan Bedford was a Democrat. That we know.

[libertybele]

Ted is absolutely right.  Honoring a KKK Grand Wizard is ok with everyone?  I get that its not Ted's district/state, but many times I have written/called/e-mailed many Congressmen in different districts and states for help., i.e., illegal immigration.

Yes they were elected to serve their constituents, but they should also be concerned about the welfare of this country period.

[Cyber Liberty]

What happened to leaving states alone, Ted?

[EdJames]

It's like Rush says, the confederate flag like it or not, is the legacy of the Democrats. I fully respect that flag, I see nothing wrong with saying what Rush did. Nathan Bedford was a Democrat. That we know.

So what?

Does that justify someone being slandered and having lies propagated about their life, because they were a Democrat?

[roamer_1]

Ted is absolutely right.  Honoring a KKK Grand Wizard is ok with everyone? 

No, Ted is not.
In the first place, there is a good deal of disagreement whether NBF was actually in the KKK at all - And he most vociferously denied any involvement with the KKK...

And even if every damnable bit of it is true, which I don't believe, or am neutral in, the other half of the story is that after the war, NBF was one of the most conciliatory voices trying to heal troubles between blacks and whites in the South To the point of being denounced by many. So at the least, it should be considered that the man had a genuine change of heart, and that at some expense.

It has been a long time since I did that research into the Civil war. But that is the takeaway that I was left with.

I would say leave well enough alone, and Tennessee is none of Ted's business.

[EdJames]

Ted is absolutely right.  Honoring a KKK Grand Wizard is ok with everyone?  I get that its not Ted's district/state, but many times I have written/called/e-mailed many Congressmen in different districts and states for help., i.e., illegal immigration.

Yes they were elected to serve their constituents, but they should also be concerned about the welfare of this country period.

It is not clear that Forrest was a KKK Grand Wizard.

(Everything that you are taught in school or read in books, magazines, or newspapers is necessarily the truth.)

The following article appeared in the New York times June 27th, “Washington, 1871. Gen Forrest was before the Klu Klux Committee today, and his examination lasted four hours. After the examination, he remarked than the committee treated him with much courtesy and respect.”
Congressional records show that Gen. Forrest was absolved of all complicity in the founding or operation of the Ku Klux Klan, and he was certainly never a “Grand Wizard”. These committees had the utmost evidence and living witnesses at their disposal. The evidence precluded any Guilt or indictment of Gen. Forrest and the matter was closed before that body of final judgment in 1872.

Ibid.

I am not entirely convinced one way or the other.  But I don't accept the accusations as gospel.

[mountaineer]

Did Ted Cruz ever criticize Robert C. Byrd? This West Virginian wants to know.

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

1) As long as he's using his personal account, he's got just as much right to comment on the matters occurring in another state as the rest of us do.

2) I really felt like I should mind my own business, since I don't live in TX, but I contributed to his first Senate primary campaign.

[mountaineer]

1) As long as he's using his personal account, he's got just as much right to comment on the matters occurring in another state as the rest of us do.

2) I really felt like I should mind my own business, since I don't live in TX, but I contributed to his first Senate primary campaign.

Agreed, he certainly may comment on whatever he likes. And I think he would have been a good president. But if he's mistaken on an historical fact, perhaps he should withhold commentary.

[Cyber Liberty]

Agreed, he certainly may comment on whatever he likes. And I think he would have been a good president. But if he's mistaken on an historical fact, perhaps he should withhold commentary.

He's playing to voters.  Pandering.

[roamer_1]

Agreed, he certainly may comment on whatever he likes. And I think he would have been a good president. But if he's mistaken on an historical fact, perhaps he should withhold commentary.

At least when there is dispute over that history, discretion is the better part of valor.

[catfish1957]

Okay.....

Here is my take on it.  NBF is a polarizing figure in confederate lore, an outstanding general, and yes......  one of the progenitors of the KKK.

I have no problem with what Cruz is saying.....   HOWEVER......   

Tennessee...   How about instead of honoring NBF, why don't you (1) enact legislation protecting the graves and statues of confedrate soldiers against vandalism, and vile SJW monument removal tactics

....and (2) Change NBF Day to Confederate Soldiers Day, honoring the young men (90% which did not own slaves) for their bravery and valor during the WBTS