U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander on Tuesday became the latest Tennessee lawmaker to express support for removing the controversial bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest in the state Capitol.
"As I look at it now, I think it's not appropriate for General Forrest's bust to be in the place of honor in the state Capitol," Alexander said at an event in Nashville.
The Republican senator said there are appropriate places to remember the Civil War, including in museums, birth sites and battlefields.
"But for a place of honor, such as the place in the state Capitol, between where the Senate and House meet, that's a place that ought to be reserved only for Tennesseans who inspired all of us and bring out the best in all of us."
Alexander said the country and state need to spend less time trying to erase history and more time trying to learn from it. "All the people of this country were involved in the Civil War at that time," he said. "There's a place to remember all of it."
Alexander's call for removing the bust comes nearly 40 years after protesters encouraged the former governor to take it down.
At the time, Alexander said, "There are a lot of things we don't like in our past but that's not a good reason to remove the bust."