Tennessee Dem rips state lawmakers for punishing Memphis over statues

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) on Wednesday blasted Tennessee state lawmakers for voting to take funding away from Memphis after the city removed monuments of Confederate leaders.

“From Scopes Monkey Trial, to 10 Commandments resolution of ’96, &now to punishment of #Memphis for removing statues that honor leaders of the Confederacy,the TN House of Representatives sadly continues to embarrass #Tennessee across the nation,” Cohen tweeted. 

From Scopes Monkey Trial, to 10 Commandments resolution of ’96, &now to punishment of #Memphis for removing statues that honor leaders of the Confederacy,the TN House of Representatives sadly continues to embarrass #Tennessee across the nation https://t.co/8xgYxhYTvg #CivilRights

— Steve Cohen (@RepCohen) April 18, 2018

Cohen represented parts of Memphis for more than two decades in the Tennessee state Senate. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2006, and continues to represent parts of Memphis. 

{mosads}The Associated Press reported that the Republican-controlled Tennessee House voted Tuesday to eliminate $250,000 in funding that was allocated to Memphis for its bicentennial celebration next year. 

The move reportedly came in response to the city’s decision to remove two confederate statues last year from a city park — one of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and another of Confederate general and Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest. The city also removed a bust of a Confederate soldier after it sold the land to a nonprofit.

Republican lawmakers who voted in favor of stripping the funds argued that the city was erasing history. 

A white nationalist rally last summer in Charlottesville, Va., spurred a national debate over the future of statues honoring Confederate leaders. Some leaders, including President Trump, have defended them as a depiction of history, while others have decried them as racist and moved to take them down.