MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Is it just a coincidence that Ku Klux Klan founder Nathan Bedford Forrest and his wife's remains are being removed 18 days ahead of a Juneteenth celebration at Health Sciences Park?
Both Memphis Greenspace, Inc., who owns the park, and the Sons of Confederate Veterans said Juneteenth never entered the conversation.
Lee Millar, the spokesperson for the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Forrest family, said the process of removing the remains has been years in the making.
"There was no timeline at all," Millar said. "Just whenever it worked out."
Millar said the process may actually take up to a week longer than the June 19th holiday.
"The remains still may be here by then," Millar said. "That’s just something that the Juneteenth people will have to work around."
The removal of the remains was planned for earlier this spring, but delays in court due to Covid-19 and weather stalled the process.
Memphis Greenspace, Inc. said it's a tedious process to go through the courts in order to relocate any grave. The organization's president, Van Turner, expects most of it will be completed prior to the Juneteenth celebration.
"If it still is a process that's ongoing when the Juneteenth celebration occurs, we’ll make sure that celebration is separated from the removal process and that there won’t be any issue," Turner said.
Millar said the Forrest family has no problem with the celebration.
"Everybody should be able to celebrate history," Millar said. "It belongs to everybody, so that’s a perfectly good celebration."
The monument will have 24 hour security until the remains are removed. Memphis Greenspace, Inc. will pay for it initially, but when money from donors runs out, the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the Forrest family will have to pick up the cost.