Corker joins Haslam: Remove Confederate flag, KKK leader's bust

Gov. Bill Haslam supports discontinuing Tennessee license plates that feature the Confederate battle flag and removing the bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest from the Tennessee statehouse.

"I feel like that that Confederate battle flag is something that I think people are ready to see move to museums" Haslam said Tuesday after an event south of downtown Nashville.

"I think it's appropriate to move the flag to museums and off of Tennessee symbols."

Haslam confirmed comments he originally made Tuesday morning in East Tennessee, as reported by the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

In a statement issued later Tuesday afternoon, U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., echoed Haslam's answers on ending the license plates with Confederate flags and removing Forrest's bust.

"These are state issues, but if I were in the legislature, I certainly would vote to remove the bust and discontinue the specialty license plate," Corker said in a statement.

Haslam acknowledged it could take a change in law to stop issuing the specialty plates or to remove the bust of Forrest, a Confederate general and early leader of the Ku Klu Klan. But he said he would support any legislation or other needed moves to remove the flags and the bust.

"We only honor a limited number of Tennesseans in there," Haslam said of monuments at the statehouse. "Forrest would not be my choice of one of the Tennesseans that we honor. I'll be real clear about that."

Several Tennessee Democratic and Republican leaders said Monday they believe the time is right to remove the bust from the statehouse. Corker and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., also recently said they believe South Carolina should remove the Confederate battle flag that flies outside the state capitol in Charleston, S.C.

In a statement late Tuesday, Alexander seemed to agree with Corker and Haslam that the Confederate battle flag should be removed from specialty license plates. His feelings on removing the Forrest bust were less clear.

"The flag to fly and to put on license plates is the American flag, because it is a symbol that this is one country, and that we are all Americans," Alexander said in the statement.

"The state should carefully consider where and how to appropriately display other chapters in our history."

Haslam's comments come as the latest in moves across the country to stop displaying and distributing symbols of the Confederacy on public property. The governor of Virginia said Tuesday morning he wants his state to stop issuing similar plates, and leaders in Mississippi are discussing whether the Confederate battle flag embedded in the state flag should be removed.

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called on state lawmakers to remove the Confederate battle flag that flies on the statehouse grounds in Columbia, S.C. Her comments come on the heels of the shooting death of nine people at the Emanuel A.M.E. Church, a historically prominent black church in Charleston, S.C.

Tennessee has issued license plates with the Confederate battle flag since at least 2002, according to state records. The design is one of many specialty designs. A plate with the design may be purchased for an annual fee of $56.50, with $35 of that going toward a designated group, according to the Tennessee Department of Revenue.

The Tennessee Division of Sons of Confederate Veterans receive the proceeds from sales of the Confederate battle flag license plate, according to the department.

The Forrest bust is at least four feet tall and sits on the second floor of the statehouse, in between the chambers for the state House and Senate. The bust has been in the statehouse since at least 1978, but was first requested in 1973, said Eddie Weeks, legislative librarian.

A state law prohibits removing any monuments to "the War Between the States" that sit on public property. But the State Capitol Commission could seek an exemption to the law from the Tennessee Historical Commission.

The bust was requested through a Senate Joint Resolution sponsored by then-Sen Douglas Henry, D-Nashville. Years later, Henry also advocated to remove trees and brush the state had planted along Interstate 65 to obscure the view of a large Forrest statue on private property.

Haslam said Tuesday he's also not a fan of that statue.

"It's not a statue that I like, and that most Tennesseans are proud of in any way," Haslam said.

He acknowledged speaking recently with at-large Metro councilwoman and mayoral candidate Megan Barry about looking at planting new trees or bushes near the statue.

The owner of the property told The Tennessean he opposes any move to block the statue from sight, arguing it would hurt Nashville tourism.

Reach Dave Boucher at 615-259-8892 and on Twitter @Dave_Boucher1.