Taylor Swift Says Statues of Racist Historical Figures Make Her 'Sick,' Slams People Fighting to Keep Them Up
Taylor Swift is speaking out against people who are trying to keep up statues of racist historical figures in the state of Tennessee.
The 30-year-old singer wrote a 10-tweet thread on Twitter in which she gave fans a history lesson about the awful things that some of these historical figures did.
Protesters who are out there as part of the Black Lives Matter movement have been tearing down these controversial statues and some people want them to be replaced.
“Replacing his statue is a waste of state funds and a waste of an opportunity to do the right thing,” Taylor said. “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.”
Taylor wants these historical figures to be classified as “villains” instead of “heroes.”
“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,” she concluded her string of tweets.
In other Taylor news, it was just reported that she has been donating to campaigns launched by young fans who are working to do good in their communities!
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.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
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.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
Click inside to read the rest of Taylor Swift’s 10-tweet thread…
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).
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
Replacing his statue is a waste of state funds and a waste of an opportunity to do the right thing.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
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. https://t.co/n2DiEt9F3P
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
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.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
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.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
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.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
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.
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
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. 🙏
— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) June 12, 2020
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