Appeals court backs city’s renaming of Confederate parks

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Tennessee Court of Appeals has ruled that a city council had the authority to rename three parks whose names honoured the Confederacy.

The Commercial Appeal reports the court affirmed the Shelby County Chancery Court’s February ruling on Wednesday. In 2013, the Memphis City Council renamed Forrest Park, Confederate Park and Jefferson Davis Park as Health Sciences Park, Memphis Park and Mississippi River Park, respectively.

Davis was the Confederacy’s only president. Nathan Bedford Forrest was a Confederate general and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

Lee Millar, a spokesman for the local Sons of Confederate Veterans chapter, says the group hasn’t decided whether to appeal to the state Supreme Court.

City Council attorney Allen Wade says the city is prepared to oppose the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ further efforts.

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