Tennessee GOP gubernatorial candidates stop short of calling for removal of Nathan Bedford Forrest bust

Gov. Bill Haslam has called for the removal of the bust of a Confederate general housed in the state Capitol but all five of Tennessee's' top-tier Republican gubernatorial candidates have stopped short of doing the same.

In emailed statements, Knoxville entrepreneur Randy Boyd, Williamson County businessman Bill Lee, state Sen. Mae Beavers, House Speaker Beth Harwell and U.S. Rep. Diane Black all widely condemned the weekend's violence in Charlottesville but stopped short of calling for the removal of the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest in the state Capitol.

► More: Tennessee Gov. Haslam: Nathan Bedford Forrest shouldn't be honored at Capitol

► More: In wake of Charlottesville, protests take aim at Nathan Bedford Forrest bust in Tennessee Capitol

Forrest was a Confederate general and early leader of the Ku Klux Klan whose bust appears in the Capitol between the House and Senate chambers.

Black said the movement that elected President Donald Trump was about unity and inclusion, and the violence in Charlottesville displayed "hate, bigotry and racism" that has no place in any political movement or in the U.S.

Boyd said there's no place in the U.S. for political violence and anyone who engages it should be condemned in the strongest way possible.

"The hate, prejudice and bigotry displayed this weekend in Charlottesville are un-American and go against our deeply rooted American values of faith, equal opportunity and freedom," Boyd said.

Harwell called the violence in Virginia reprehensible.

"While I have no tolerance for hateful bigots, I also recognize our Constitution protects the rights of everyone to protest peacefully," Harwell said. "Clearly the events on Saturday went far beyond a peaceful protest, and again, those responsible should be held fully accountable. Anyone who makes excuses for a different course of action is no better than the offenders themselves."

In her statement, Beavers took a different approach, saying that although violence has no place in a free society, it is "sad to see" what she called "far-left groups" like Everytown for Gun Safety's attempts to "strangle" the Second Amendment.

After the violence in Charlottesville erupted, the New York-based national gun control group issued a statement saying Virginia's gun laws created complications given that many of those in the crowd were carrying loaded weapons.

Beavers said the 20-year-old Ohio man who authorities say drove his car into counter protesters, killing one and injuring 19, deserves the death penalty.

Condemning white supremacy

Trump has faced criticism for not quickly condemning the white supremacists and neo-Nazis involved in the Charlottesville violence. It wasn't until Monday that he condemned the groups by name.

"Any criticism or praise of the president’s or any of our elected leaders’ comments in a tragedy such as this misses the larger point," Lee said. "We should be focusing on the victims and their families and working to heal so tragedies like these don’t happen again."

Beavers and Boyd said they agreed with Trump's statement on Monday, when he denounced neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and white supremacists, calling them "repugnant."

Forrest bust in Capitol has drawn renewed attention

Protesters on Monday gathered at the Capitol to once again call for the state's leaders to remove the Forrest bust, which culminated in a statement from Haslam in which he encouraged action by the Capitol Commission and the Historical Commission.

A 2016 law requires a two-thirds vote of the Historical Commission to remove or rename monuments from public property.

"Let's give the law time to work," Black said.

► More: House passes bill making it harder to remove controversial statues

Harwell the process to remove the bust is a fair and allows "ample public input."

"I trust the wisdom and guidance of the Tennessee Historical Commission and the Capitol Commission to make the best decision for our state," Harwell said.

Boyd said he was opposed to the wholesale removal of historical displays and monuments. "If we cannot learn from the past, then we are surely destined to repeat it," he said.

Lee said there's needs to be a delicate balance.

"We should not wash away history just because some deem it offensive," Lee said. "We should always try to learn from those who came before us. History is the best teacher, not only for us to have the knowledge of who we are and what happened in our past, but also to ensure that the worst parts of our history doesn’t happen again."

Beavers said most Confederate soldiers fought to defend their families, communities and the ideals in the Declaration of Independence and not slavery.

"Many monuments to their memory were built by the federal government after the Civil War concluded," she said. "Where will all the absurd apologies end? Should we tear down the Washington Monument because he owned slaves? The Emancipation Proclamation only applied to areas the Union didn’t occupy and allowed slavery to continue in Union occupied territory. Should we tear down the Lincoln memorial too?"

The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee that was at the center of the protests in Charlottesville, Va., was erected in the 1920s. Inscriptions on the Forrest bust in the Tennessee Capitol list 1977 and 1988.

Calls for unity

There were also calls of unity among the candidates.

"We need to come together right now as a country and work to make the lives of all Americans better rather than inciting fear and violence," Black said.

"We as a country need to find ways to come together and heal these growing rifts so tragedies like this don't continue to happen," Lee said.

On the Democratic side, former Nashville mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Karl Dean called the car attack an act of terrorism.

"It was an effort by a white supremacist to intimidate those opposing his views. White supremacists have views that are not consistent with our society. They are views that I strongly reject and that are rejected by the vast majority of Americans," Dean said. "What’s not acceptable is a resort to violence — that was criminal and just wrong."

Dean said the Forrest bust belongs in a museum and not the Capitol, while also calling for healing.

"What we need right now are leaders who will bring us together, who will inspire compassion, like Robert F. Kennedy did on the night Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed," Dean said.

House Minority Leader Craig Fitzhugh, who also is seeking the Democratic nomination, said that what happened in Virginia did not come as a surprise to "African Americans across this country who — 150 years after slavery ended — still contend daily with this legacy of weakness, avarice and evil."

"As a white man, I cannot ever truly know what it is to carry the burden of that legacy," Fitzhugh said in a statement. "I can, however, acknowledge that it exists, check my own privilege and use whatever platform I have to help plot a way forward."

He said he joined Republicans and Democrats more than a year ago in calling for the removal of the Forrest bust from the Capitol.

“History is important, especially that history which we do not wish to repeat, and the place for that history is a museum," Fitzhugh said. "Moving the bust of Mr. Forrest is a basic first-step toward the greater goal of reconciliation.“

Reach Joel Ebert at jebert@tennessean.com or 615-772-1681 and on Twitter @joelebert29.