'Everybody Was Just Astonished': Tenn. Republican's Comments on Slavery Leave His Colleagues Stunned

[TexasTowelie]

During a discussion on a resolution to remove a statue of a Confederate general and early leader of the KKK that stands inside the Tennessee State Capitol, Rep. Jerry Sexton (R) made some comments that sparked a backlash, News 4 Nashville reports.

A Tennessee House Committee voted down the resolution on Tuesday, which suggested replacing the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest with a less controversial figure. During the lead up the vote, Sexton, who argued against the resolution, said that memorials to Confederate figures should get a pass because slavery was once the norm and people simply didn’t know any better.

“It was not against the law to own slaves back then,” Sexton said. “Who knows, maybe some of us will be slaves one of these days. Laws change.”

Unsurprisingly, Sexton was met with considerable pushback from his colleagues.

Read more: https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2020/06/everybody-was-just-astonished-tenn-republicans-comments-on-slavery-leave-his-colleagues-stunned/

[Grokenstein]

1. I'm glad SOMEBODY can still be 'astonished' by this crap.

Daily exposure has dulled my ability to be shocked.

[AlexSFCA]

2. I think it's not so much about slave ownership but confederacy

any confederate symbols belong to museum not public places - this is similar to nazi symbols in germany. Slave owners is different - founding fathers were slave owners, washington had over 300 slaves - what are we gonna do with all those.

[3Hotdogs]

3. "...maybe some of us will be slaves one of these days...."

No doubt who he's voting for in November.