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WSFA.com: News Weather and Sports for Montgomery, AL.

The black community of Salem, AL is fighting the renovation of a monument to Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, slave trader and “war hero.” 

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According to WSFA News:

The original bust of Forrest was stolen a while back but the organization Friends of Forrest is not waiting for someone to return the stolen bust of their hero. 

They’ve ordered a new one and are building a bigger and better monument to the general – while sprucing up the larger Confederate Memorial Circle.

“I recommend this man to model his life after,” said Todd Kiscaden, with Friends of Forrest.

“He always led from the front.  He did what he said he was going to do. He took care of his people, and his people included both races.” 

“Here’s a man who killed African-Americans who had surrendered, who were not a threat to anybody, (who) formed the Ku Klux Klan,” said Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, who is among the people pushing to stop the construction.  And yet we are talking about a monument to him. 

Many argue that Forrest was a brilliant tactician whose methods were studied long after the Civil War, while others believe that putting up a monument of such a man is disrespectful.

Sanders said the Council has the power to stop the construction, because the cemetery is owned by the city.  But Selma City Council President Cecil Williamson said the land on which the Forrest monument sits is actually controlled by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and has been since the 1870s. He doesn’t think the city should be involved at all.

The project is scheduled to be completed in the fall, but Change.org has a petition, set up by the Selma City Council calling for No More Monuments to KKK Hate!

Should a monument to a KKK leader be erected in Salem, AL? Sound off below…

SOURCE: WSFA News