NASHVILLE — A panel of Tennessee officials Friday rejected a plan to remove a controversial statue of an Ku Klux Klan leader from its perch at the state Capitol even as officials across the USA have worked to take down symbols of the Civil War.

At a meeting of the state Capitol Commission, Commissioner Larry Martin of the Department of Finance and Administration requested a waiver necessary to relocate a bust of Confederate Lt. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest to the state museum.

But the commission voted 7 to 5 against the motion, killing the push. The Tennessee General Assembly could take up the measure separately though a vote in the GOP-controlled legislature would be unlikely.

The commission's decision to keep the bust in place is a stark contrast to approaches that other government officials have taken. In recent weeks, Confederate statues have been removed in about a dozen states, including Florida, Louisiana, North Carolina and Texas.

► Aug. 23:Black lawmakers push to get Confederate statues out of the U.S. Capitol

► Aug. 23:Post-Charlottesville, Confederate monuments begin to fall across the U.S.

Among those who voted to keep Tennessee's statue in place were Secretary of State Tre Hargett, State Treasurer David Lillard and Comptroller Justin Wilson. The legislature elects all three.

In introducing his motion, Martin said the Capitol should be a place that represents a united Tennessee rather than a divided one.

"I believe General Forrest's bust should be relocated from the Capitol building to the state museum," he said.

Opponents of the bust point to Forrest's involvement with the Ku Klux Klan — he served in 1867 as its first grand wizard — and the fact that he made his fortune as a slave trader.

Defenders of the bust say it commemorates the native Tennessean's role as a general for the Confederacy and removing it would be ignoring history. They also note that after Forrest ordered the organization disbanded in 1869, he advocated for civil rights.

Some members of the state panel, including Wilson, said the decision on the bust should be left to the legislature, and Lillard suggested Forrest's bust could be one of several figures that rotate in and out of the Capitol.

But Martin said he would not have made the motion if he didn't believe the board would be following the appropriate process.

A vote for relocating the bust, which has been in the Capitol since 1978, to the state museum is one for unity and civility, he said.

After Martin's motion, the commission had a lengthy discussion about the bust, which has come under fire after white-supremacist violence Charlottesville, Va., killed counter-demonstrator Heather Heyer, 32, and injured 19 others.

► Aug. 22:Removal of Lexington's Confederate statues up to Ky. heritage panel

► Aug. 22:Charlottesville covers Confederate statues in black fabric to mourn

State Rep. Curtis Johnson, a Republican from Clarksville, Tenn. said removal of the Forrest bust could lead to a slippery slope.

"Where does this stop?" he asked rhetorically.

Hargett said he was concerned the commission was undoing the work of the state's elected officials because no vote about taking Confederate monuments down has occurred since they were put up.

But Howard Gentry, Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk and former Nashville vice mayor who is one of three private citizens serving on the commission, said he could recall walking through the state legislature when bathrooms there still said "colored."

"There were legislative sessions where nobody suggested to take them down until the time called for it," he said, stating that the board is in such times.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam had asked the commission to take up the issue, and his spokeswoman, Jennifer Donnals, said he was very disappointed in the decision.



Lawmakers and citizens present who supported the bust's removal said the final vote showed a lingering good ol' boy system that still has control here.



"This is about hate, not heritage," said Leo Lillard, co-founder of the African-American Cultural Alliance. "It's about who is still in control, and taking that bust down would mean accepting blame and saying, 'I was wrong.' "

Members of the state legislature's black caucus said they were shocked with the panel's decision after feeling confident the bust would be removed with the governor's support.

"The constitutional offers kept emphasizing that the legislature needs to act," said Rep. Harold Love, a Nashville Democrat. "Then we need to go ahead and act. They kept emphasizing that there have been no bills to make a motion to remove the bust. Apparently, that's what they want us to do."

► Aug. 21:Statue of doctor who experimented on slave women targeted for removal

► Aug. 21:University of Texas removes Confederate statues from campus

The Capitol Commission's action came after protesters; Haslam; and both of Tennessee's Republican U.S. senators, Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker, all called for the bust's removal from the statehouse. Corker wanted it in the Tennessee State Museum.

Commission member Tammy White, chief executive of Leadership Knoxville, said historical evidence doesn't paint Forrest as a total racist.

"Some of the research is a little contradictory," she said. "There's information that redeems him as an outstanding member of society post war, where he worked in support of the black community."

► Aug. 20:Consider Pocahontas statue instead of Robert E. Lee, senator says

► Aug. 19:Confederate holidays also should be on chopping block, activists say

After the meeting, Martin said he believes the issue of all Confederate monuments will remain significant.

"I think it may be in the interest of the Capitol Commission to explore Treasurer Lillard's thoughts in regard to rotation," Martin said. "While I'm disappointed in the vote today, I certainly have respect for the commission."

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