The Mississippi Division of
Sons of Confederate Veterans has publicly sponsored a state-wide campaign to issue a series of license plates that will mark the Sesquicentennial or 150th anniversary of the Civil War in the South, reported
ABC News.
The Southern heritage group has proposed five unique designs that will begin with
'The Beauvoir' design in 2011, home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, which is available now and shown on Mississippi' Department of Revenue
website.
This will be followed by "the 'Battle of Corinth' design for 2012, 'Siege of Vicksburg' design for 2013, 'General Nathan B. Forrest' design for 2014 and 'Confederate veterans tribute' in 2015, according to the
Daily Corinthian. Who have also reported "each license plate will also incorporate five different flags into the design of the state map."
It is the choice of the controversial Calvary and military leader
General Nathan B. Forrest, a native of Tennessee, that has the south up in arms. " Forrest, is revered by some as a military genius and reviled by others for leading the 1864 massacre of black Union troops at Fort Pillow, Tenn. Forrest was a Klan grand wizard in Tennessee after the war," according to
MSNBC.
The controversy has spurred the creation of a Facebook
group "Mississippians Against The Commemoration Of Grand Wizard Nathan Forrest," which has been attracting a mixed reaction from individuals posting opinions on the newly proposed automobile license tags.
"Robert McElvaine, director of history department at Millsaps College in Jackson, said Forrest's role at Fort Pillow and involvement in the Klan make him unworthy of being honored, "The idea of celebrating such a person, whatever his accomplishments in other areas may have been, seems like a very poor idea," reports The
Associated Press.
Greg Stewart, a member of the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, disagrees and said "If Christian redemption means anything — and we all want redemption, I think — he (Forrest) redeemed himself in his own time, in his own actions, in his own words," reported the
AP. "We should respect that."
The
Southern Poverty Law Center said Forrest was a "brilliant and highly successful cavalry general — but he was also a homicidal bully."
Some citizens of the state of Mississippi are calling for the plate to be denied: "I think it's offensive," said Derrick Johnson, state president of the Mississippi NAACP, according to
ABC.
Kathy Waterbury, spokeswoman for the State Department of Revenue told the
AP: "legislators would have to approve the series of Civil War license plates."
Until that time the debate continues on the series of Civil War commemorative license plates.
