Protesters in Nashville, Tenn. are trying to creating the magic of the Seattle CHAZ with one of their own on the site of the former monument to Edward Carmack at the state Capitol, a newspaper editor who published pro-lynching editorials:
An hour in, there have been no tents pitched at the Nashville CHAZ, where they say they’ve renamed the area where Edward Carmack’s statue was torn down for Ida B. Wells, the black journalist and civil rights advocate who Carmack hated. pic.twitter.com/imF8Wo2FZ6
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) June 12, 2020
Gov. Bill Lee told the protesters that “lawlessness, autonomous zones, and violence will not be tolerated”:
CHAZ 2.0?— Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee issued a warning to demonstrators looking to set up an autonomous zone in front of the state Capitol Friday, saying that “lawlessness, autonomous zones, and violence will not be tolerated”#NextRevFNC @SteveHiltonx https://t.co/ASciBohMf0
— The Next Revolution (@NextRevFNC) June 12, 2020
CHAZ rookies if you ask, us:
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A curious Nashville Democratic @RepMikeStewart has stopped by the CHAZ. pic.twitter.com/fNDkUMgNUb
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) June 12, 2020
Anyway, Taylor Swift made news earlier when she finally spoke out against Confederate monuments in her state.
As a Tennessean, it makes me sick that there are monuments standing in our state that celebrate racist historical figures who did evil things. Edward Carmack and Nathan Bedford Forrest were DESPICABLE figures in our state history and should be treated as such.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
And we mean “finally” because she was asked to do so 5 years ago and stayed silent:
The Internet wants the Confederate flag to be Taylor Swift’s next target http://t.co/Jn32kvt9ng pic.twitter.com/984x53tdOr
— Splinter (@splinter_news) June 23, 2015
Here’s the rest of her thread:
Edward Carmack’s statue was sitting in the state Capitol until it was torn down last week in the protests. The state of Tennessee has vowed to replace it.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
FYI, he was a white supremacist newspaper editor who published pro-lynching editorials and incited the arson of the office of Ida B. Wells (who actually deserves a hero’s statue for her pioneering work in journalism and civil rights).
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
Replacing his statue is a waste of state funds and a waste of an opportunity to do the right thing.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
Then we get to this monstrosity. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a brutal slave trader and the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan who, during the Civil War, massacred dozens of black Union soldiers in Memphis. https://t.co/n2DiEt9F3P
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
His statue is still standing and July 13th is ‘Nathan Bedford Forrest Day.’ Due to social pressure, the state is trying to overrule this, and Tennesseans might no longer have to stomach it. Fingers crossed.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
Taking down statues isn’t going to fix centuries of systemic oppression, violence and hatred that black people have had to endure but it might bring us one small step closer to making ALL Tennesseans and visitors to our state feel safe – not just the white ones.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
We need to retroactively change the status of people who perpetuated hideous patterns of racism from ‘heroes’ to ‘villains.’ And villains don’t deserve statues.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
I’m asking the Capitol Commission and the Tennessee Historical Commission to please consider the implications of how hurtful it would be to continue fighting for these monuments.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
When you fight to honor racists, you show black Tennesseans and all of their allies where you stand, and you continue this cycle of hurt. You can’t change history, but you can change this. ?
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
Maybe she can play a concert at the Nashville CHAZ? It looks like they can use some help.
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