KKK founder statue finds its way into another race

 

By Aaron Blake

A statue of Ku Klux Klan founder Nathan Bedford Forrest has made its way into a second congressional campaign this year, with Rep. Steve Cohen's (D-Tenn.) primary challenger injecting even more race into an already racially charged contest.   Democrat Nikki Tinker has launched a television ad spotlighting Cohen's vote against renaming a Memphis park that is named for the Confederate general. It is narrated by former Shelby County Commissioner Walter Bailey, and it juxtaposes a picture of Cohen with a statue of Forrest.   Both Bailey and Tinker are black. Cohen, who is white, is trying to hold on to a district that is 60 percent black.   Cohen said he wanted to avoid the racially divisive process of renaming the park, and he pointed out that city leaders never acted on the recommendation.   "It's just a desperation effort that's hard to fathom — that somebody would suggest that, particularly a Jewish person, was in any way involved with the Ku Klux Klan," Cohen told The Hill. "The Klan didn't exactly have Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana services and invite us over for them."

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/kkk-founder-statue-finds-its-way-into-another-race-2008-08-04.html