Taylor Swift says statues of racist leaders make her sick, asks for removal

Taylor Swift, on social media, has spoken about racial monuments in the state of Tennessee. In the light of the Black Lives Matter protest, the removal of several confederate statues was put into action. Taylor Swift on Twitter shared a series of tweets talking about how seeing confederate statues makes her sick. She especially pointed out that the Tennessee state authorities should not replace Edward Carmack which was overturned by demonstrators on May 30.

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Taylor Swift speaks up about confederate statues in Tennessee

Taylor Swift took to her Instagram account and shared a post about how she feels Edward Carmack’s statue should be replaced by Ida B Wells’ statue. Swift added that she realises that taking down confederate statues is not going to fix the issue that a part of the society was oppressed. However, she said she believes that it is a step closer to making everyone from Tennessee and those who visit the place feel safe.

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Taylor Swift took to her social media and wrote, “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.” She further emphasised on her statement saying, “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. 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).” [sic]

Taylor Swift added that she feels it is a waste of money to replace the monument. “Replacing his statue is a waste of state funds and a waste of an opportunity to do the right thing.” She then spoke about Nathan Bedford Forrest and his statue. She wrote, “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. 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.” [sic]

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Taylor Swift concluded by saying, “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. 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.” [sic]

Taylor Swift went on to say that she urges the authorities to consider bringing in a change. She wrote, “I’m 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. 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.” [sic]

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