Monument to Nathan Bedford Forrest stirs dispute
The Associated Press
Sunday, August 12, 2012
A new monument being built to honor Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest is stirring up controversy in Selma.
Todd Kiscaden with Friends of Forrest tells WAKA-TV (http://bit.ly/NYPmAy) the group decided to make improvements to the monument after a bust of Forrest disappeared from the monument in March.
But state Sen. Hank Sanders, a Democrat from Selma, says Forrest was the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, and he wants construction stopped.
But Kiscaden says Forrest was a Confederate hero who led the efforts to defend Selma against Union troops during the Civil War and should be honored.
The theft of the bust earlier this year wasn’t the first time the monument has been damaged. It was vandalized soon after it was dedicated in October 2000.
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