City, Confederate veterans to enter mediation over statue

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A city attorney says Memphis, Tennessee, and the Sons of Confederate Veterans will enter mediation over the removal of a statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest from a public park.

The Commercial Appeal reports that Memphis City Council Attorney Allan Wade announced the mediation Tuesday. Wade also recommended delaying the unveiling of a plan to remove the statue of Forrest, a Confederate general who was a slave trader before the Civil War and an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan after the conflict.

City leaders have expressed their desire to move the statue from Health Sciences Park. The Sons of Confederate Veterans has fought the city’s efforts.

Lee Millar, a spokesman for the veterans group, said it agreed to mediation but will accept no resolution that moves the statue.

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Information from: The Commercial Appeal, http://www.commercialappeal.com