[Libloather]

But Donald Davis of the Lowndes County Historical Museum says notes from the period indicate the street may have been named for Elbert Forrest, a black businessman in Valdosta.

History isn't the RAT'S strong suit.

[Doogle]

....be better off getting a photo of his mug on a new adhesive for attracting fly’s....

[Chickensoup]

Obama Street

The Martin Luther King Drive of the Millennium.

[4Liberty]

[Vaquero]

Wonder what the demographics of that city are??

[Enlightened1]

I knew a good friend that lived off that street in Valdosta, Georgia a long time ago, but never knew it was for Nathan Bedford Forrest?

Did anyone even know who Forrest was in 1863? That was before he became famous for a battle in 1864.

I would trust more what Donald Davis of Lowndes County Historical Museum, says.

[wizwor]

Kind of funny all around. Did they mention Forrest was a democrat?

In 1858, Forrest was elected a Memphis city alderman as a Democrat and served two consecutive terms. By the time the American Civil War started in 1861, he had become one of the richest men in the South, having amassed a "personal fortune that he claimed was worth $1.5 million". Forrest was well known as a Memphis speculator and Mississippi gambler. In 1859, he bought two large cotton plantations in Coahoma County, Mississippi, and a half-interest in another plantation in Arkansas; by October 1860 he owned at least 3,345 acres in Mississippi. Although scholars admire Forrest as a military strategist, he has remained a highly controversial figure in Southern history, especially for his role in the attack on Fort Pillow, his 1867–1869 leadership of the Ku Klux Klan, and his political influence as a Tennessee delegate at the 1868 Democratic National Convention.

Prominent ex-Confederates, including Forrest, the Grand Wizard of the Klan, and South Carolina's Wade Hampton, attended as delegates at the 1868 Democratic Convention, held at Tammany Hall in New York City. Forrest rode to the convention on a train that stopped in a small Northern town along the way, where he faced down a bully who wanted to fight the "damned butcher" of Fort Pillow. Former Governor of New York Horatio Seymour was nominated as the Democratic presidential candidate, while Forrest's friend, Frank Blair, Jr. was nominated as the Democratic vice presidential candidate, Seymour's running mate. The Seymour-Blair Democratic ticket's campaign slogan was: "Our Ticket, Our Motto, This Is a White Man's Country; Let White Men Rule." The Democratic Party platform denounced the Reconstruction Acts as unconstitutional, void, and revolutionary. The party advocated termination of the Freedman's Bureau and any government policy designed to aid blacks in the South. All of this worked into the Republican's hands, who focused on the Democratic Party's alleged disloyalty during and after the Civil War.

Democrat Party's alleged dislyoyalty...some things never change.

[Vlad The Inhaler]

Naming certain strets after Obama might well be a good idea - a public service of sorts.

In the same way that most cities and burgs have been kind enough to identify the NO-GO Black Ghetto zones
by naming streets in the area after Martin Luther King Jr.

Most of the time when we see a street named MLK Avenue or Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. it’s a clear warning to avoid the area.

That could work the same for streets named after the Kenyan Usurper.

[Vlad The Inhaler]

Rose says the name should be changed because Valdosta city leaders named Forrest Street in April 1883 for Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest,
who was also an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

Why not just name it after Robert C. Byrd, KKK Exalted Cyclops and beloved democrat Senator?

[reg45]

If they are so concerned that Forrest street might be named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, they can just remove one of the “r”s and claim that it’s named for a bunch of trees. Alternatively, they can claim that it’s named after Forrest Gump.

[Theodore R.]

They say that GA is turning so blue that a liberal woman will be elected governor on Nov. 6. With Doug Jones in AL, this can really happen.

[Sasparilla]

Is it a dead end street?

[eartick]

The gimme dat tribe strikes again

[ExNewsExSpook]

Too many people are unaware of Nathan Bedford Forrest’s last public address, before an early civil rights organization in Memphis. By that time (1875) he had left the Klan and clearly repudiated what it stood for. Excerpts from his remarks, which were daring for the time (to say the least):

Ladies and Gentlemen, I accept the flowers as a memento of reconciliation between the white and colored races of the Southern states. I accept it more particularly as it comes from a colored lady, for if there is any one on God’s earth who loves the ladies I believe it is myself. (Immense applause and laughter.) I came here with the jeers of some white people, who think that I am doing wrong. I believe I can exert some influence, and do much to assist the people in strengthening fraternal relations, and shall do all in my power to elevate every man, to depress none.

(Applause.)

I want to elevate you to take positions in law offices, in stores, on farms, and wherever you are capable of going. I have not said anything about politics today. I don’t propose to say anything about politics. You have a right to elect whom you please; vote for the man you think best, and I think, when that is done, you and I are freemen. Do as you consider right and honest in electing men for office. I did not come here to make you a long speech, although invited to do so by you. I am not much of a speaker, and my business prevented me from preparing myself. I came to meet you as friends, and welcome you to the white people. I want you to come nearer to us. When I can serve you I will do so. We have but one flag, one country; let us stand together. We may differ in color, but not in sentiment. Many things have been said about me which are wrong, and which white and black persons here, who stood by me through the war, can contradict. Go to work, be industrious, live honestly and act truly, and when you are oppressed I’ll come to your relief. I thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for this opportunity you have afforded me to be with you, and to assure you that I am with you in heart and in hand.” (Prolonged applause.)

[Rappini]

Robert Byrd was a Demorat and also head of KKK.

[Brown Deer]

Is it the street that goes to the city dump?

[myerson]

A congressional investigation in the 1870’s cleared NB Forrest of any relationship to the Klan.