Pop star Taylor Swift went on a ten tweet rant Friday demanding her fellow Tennesseans help “retroactively change the status of people who perpetuated hideous patterns of racism from ‘heroes’ to ‘villains'” by removing statues of Edward Carmack and Nathan Bedford Forrest, two pro-slavery figures whom Swift failed to identify as Democrats.
“As a Tennessean, it makes me sick that there are monuments standing in our state that celebrate racist historical figures who did evil things,” Swift’s rant began. “Edward Carmack and Nathan Bedford Forrest were DESPICABLE figures in our state history and should be treated as such.”
“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,” the Grammy-winner continued. “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).”
“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,” Taylor Swift continued. “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.”
“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,” the “Shake It Off” singer said. “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 was roasted by Trump reelection senior advisor Katrina Pierson, who said “You mean those DEMOCRATS who did evil things? Carmack and Forrest were both DEMOCRATS and yes they were DESPICABLE – but then they’re Democrats so that’s about right!!!!”
Swift said she’s “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.” But the statue of Carmack outside the Tennessee State Capitol was ripped down by protesters last month. The Tennessee House committee voted this week to the Nathan Bedford Forrest bust at the State Capitol building after protesters failed to tear it down.
Swift’s comments come as status are being pulled down by lawless protesters from yanking down 15th Century explorer Christopher Columbus statues in St. Paul, Minnesota, Virginia, and Massachusetts to a 207-year-old statue of Scottish merchant Robert Milligan in London.
Jerome Hudson is Breitbart News Entertainment Editor and author of the bestselling book 50 Things They Don’t Want You to Know. Order your copy today. Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter and Instagram @jeromeehudson.
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