Taylor Swift used her voice to express her displeasure with the Confederate monuments in Tennessee.
What We Know:
- 10-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift usually avoided discussing political matters until May 29 when she called out President Donald Trump for “stoking the fires of white supremacy and racism (his) entire presidency” and abusing his power. She ended the post with “we will vote you out in November”, tagging Trump.
- A lot of people commented by sending Swift praises, agreeing with her post. However, many of the other commenters weren’t moved by her post. Politician Burgess Owens responded clearly stating he does not agree with Swift’s statement.
- “Don’t suppose you’d ever sit down with a guy like me, someone who protested segregation, lived through Jim Crow Laws and the KKK, but someone who entirely disagrees with your statement on the president.”
- But the biggest problem that fueled Taylor Swift to discuss her political opinions was the Confederate statues in Tennessee. Some of these statues include Edward W. Carmack and Nathan Bedford Forres, who she says were “despicable figures in our state history and should be treated as such”.
- Edward Carmack was known to be a white supremacist who published pro-lynching editorials, which went against civil rights journalist Ida B. Wells. Nathan Bedford Forres was known to be the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and a brutal slave trader who, during the Civil War, killed many black Union soldiers in Memphis, TN.
“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
As a Tennessean, it makes me sick that there are monuments standing in our state that celebrate racist historical figures who did evil things. Edward Carmack and Nathan Bedford Forrest were DESPICABLE figures in our state history and should be treated as such.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
- The Carmack statue was torn down during a protest and the state of Tennessee has vowed to replace it since state law says any memorial on public property cannot be removed unless it was approved by the Tennessee Historical Commission.
- In another post, Swift asked for the Capitol Commission and Tennessee Historical Commission to consider how it would look for them to defend the monuments.
- “When you fight to honor racists, you show Black Tennesseans and all of their allies where you stand, and you continue this cycle of hurt. You can’t change history, but you can change this.”
Despite the negative response she received, Swift continued to address political things on her Twitter. Monday, she thanked the Supreme Court Justices after they decided that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to L.G.B.T workers.
