KKK memorial should be replaced by statue of Dolly Parton, politician suggests

A Dolly Parton statue should replace a memorial to a Ku Klux Klan leader, a Tennessee politician has suggested.

Since 1978, visitors to the Tennessee Capitol building have been greeted by a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a former Confederate general and early Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

But now Republican politician Jeremy Faison has called for it to be taken down and replaced.

“I fundamentally reject any notion by someone saying that moving him to the museum is trying to whitewash history,” Faison told The Tennessean. “If we want to preserve history, then let’s tell it the right way.”

He continued: “Right now there are eight alcoves [in the Capitol building]. Seven are filled with white men. [I could] think of 100 other people deserving of that post.”

“How about getting a lady in there? My daughter is 16, and I would love for her to come into the Capitol and see a lady up there. What’s wrong with [women's suffrage activist] Anne Dallas Dudley getting in that alcove? What’s wrong with someone like Dolly Parton being put in that alcove?”

Parton is a local legend, having been born and raised in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.

Her theme park, Dollywood, is also located in the state, and is its most successful tourist attraction.

Parton herself has yet to comment on the suggested statue.