July 13th: Nathan Bedford Forrest Day! Huzzah!

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has proclaimed Saturday, July 13th, as Nathan Bedford Forrest Day in Tennessee, a day of observation to honor the former Confederate general and early Ku Klux Klan leader.

State law, still on the books despite the efforts of the usual suspects, requires the Tennessee governor to issue proclamations for six separate days of special observance. Three of those days, including Forrest Day, pertain to personages and events in the history of the Confederate States of America, of late remembrance. January 19th is Robert E. Lee Day, honouring the commander of the Confederate Army. June 3rd is Confederate Decoration Day, otherwise known as Confederate Memorial Day, also the birthday of President Jefferson Davis.

To kind of even things up, the statute instructs the governor to proclaim those three days of special observation along with Abraham Lincoln Day (February 12th), Andrew Jackson Day (March 15th) and Veterans Day (November 11th). The law invites the people of Tennessee "to observe the days in schools, churches, and other suitable places with appropriate ceremonies expressive of the public sentiment befitting the anniversary of such dates."

In the Forrest proclamation, identical to the one issued each year by former Governor Bill Haslam, Lieutenant-General Forrest is described as a "recognized military figure in American history and a native Tennessean." The text goes on to say that the Governor encourages "all citizens to join (him) in this worthy observance."

P.K. Subban and "the politics of the old South"

A soi-disant "journalist" by the name of Joe O'Conner is liberal, progressive, anti-racist, yada yada yada. Naturally he approves of the destruction, in New Orleans and other American cities, of monuments to heroes of the Glorious War of the Secession such as Robert E. Lee. And Nathan Bedford Forrest. Especially Nathan Bedford Forrest, the finest cavalry general on either side of the Civil War and staunch defender of Southern rights during and after the conflict.

There are several statues of General Forrest dotted around the South, especially in his native Tennessee. Some of them are quite handsome, some, errr, not so much. Like this one in Nashville, sculpted by Jack Kershaw, professional lawyer and amateur artist, which sits on 3.5 acres of privately owned land just off the I-65.

Mr O'Connor (who Walt suspects of being a Canuck, thus having none of his white skin in the American racial conflict) would like to see this and all those other "racist" statues torn down. For reasons unknown, the normally sensible National Post decided to give him a platform for his SJW rant. But (they must have said), you need some kind of Canadian hook for the piece. What could be more natural, then, than to put some words in the mouth of Pernell Karl Subban, a Canadian hockey player who toils -- allegedly playing defence -- for the Nashville Predators. Mr Subban is black. As the Showboat himself told ESPN, "I know I'm black. Everybody knows I'm black."

Turned out P.K. didn't have anything to say about the Forrest statue, or at least didn't give a quote to Mr O'Connor for "P.K. Subban faces off against the politics of the Old South still on display in Tennessee", National Post, 9/6/17. So for a tie-in, the "writer" could do no better than this: "'I don’t want to be defined as a black hockey player.' [That's from the ESPN quote.] It is an admirable wish. What makes it especially compelling, in the Nashville context...here is Subban, a Canadian, a child of Caribbean immigrants from a diverse city (Toronto) bedazzling Predators fans and potentially winning a Stanley Cup in an arena that is about a 20-minute drive from one of the most vile Confederate monuments in the great state of Tennessee."

To which a Post reader by the name of Jason Williams comments: "We define him as a black hockey player, because he has similar mannerisms and personality traits of other black athletes. Showboating, image-conscious, self-aggrandizing, etc are negative traits what we as a sporting culture are accustomed to seeing in majority-black leagues like the NFL and NBA. This isn't to say he isn't a good PERSON - but the fundamental truth is that his ACTIONS are stereotypically negative ones, associated with black athletes... Which stands out VERY distinctly in what you might as well call a white league."

Which is what Walt's old friend Poor Len Canayen said way back in February of 2014 in "Is P.K. Subban a 'nigger'?"

Tomorrow night the Nashville Predators will be at home to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 6 of the National Hockey League (G. Bettman, prop.) Stanley Cup finals. The Penguins lead the series 3 games to 2, so if the Predators lose tomorrow night, they're out. If the Predators should win, and can by some miracle manage to win Game 7, Wednesday night in Pittsburgh (if necessary), Walt think it would be fitting to attach Lord Stanley's silverware to one of General Forrest's outstretched arms. I don't think P.K. Subban would mind.