'Symbols matter,' Gov. Bill Lee says of Nathan Bedford Forrest bust, vows to call Capitol Commission meeting

Gov. Bill Lee still hasn't called for the removal of the bust of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

But he isn't where he once was on the issue, which was firmly in favor of leaving the controversial Capitol fixture in place.

Lee in multiple ways — most notably through his strategic appointments to the commission that decides the monument's fate  — has signaled a discreet desire to see the bust go, and on Thursday made his strongest comments to date in favor of removal.

"Symbols matter," Lee told reporters in his weekly briefing, which began with remarks on the need to take seriously current discussions on race in the country.

"Proclamations and statues are not just snapshots of our history, they are a window into what we value."

Lee in recent weeks requested the Senate pass before adjourning a bill that would release him from his current statutory requirement to proclaim Nathan Bedford Forrest Day. The House had already done so earlier in the year.

The July 13 day honoring of the early Ku Klux Klan leader, who was also a slave trader, remains an annual special observance day in the state, despite the governor no longer having to proclaim it.

Lee on Thursday declined to say whether he would explicitly call for removal of the bust, which he said creates tension "between elevating history and elevating painful symbolism," but vowed to fill vacancies to the State Capitol Commission in the coming weeks and call for them to meet soon after.

The commission can vote on whether to remove the bust. Lee has maintained in recent months that, at the least, additional historical context should be placed alongside the bust.

Speaking about ongoing racial tension and reckoning across the country in the aftermath of George Floyd's death, Lee said it has created an opportunity for "growing understanding," though he declined to list any changes in opinion he has undergone. Floyd died after a Minneapolis police kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes.

"The issue of racial reconciliation is not a political issue to me," Lee said. "It's not an issue between conservatives and liberals. In fact, we should firmly reject any attempt to make it such."

He said questions of racial equality are a "human being issue" and, for him specifically, a spiritual one.

Lee said he is currently continuing dialogue with Black leaders, faith leaders and law enforcement, though he was clear that he is uninterested in hearing conversations about defunding police.

On Friday, Lee will sign a Juneteenth proclamation, a day commemorating the end of slavery in the United States.

Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.

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