Tennessee Clergy Expelled from State Capitol in Statue Protest

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Three women, two of them United Methodist clergy, were physically expelled from the Tennessee Legislature June 17 after protesting that the state had enough money to remove a bust of Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a founder of the Ku Klux Klan, from the state capitol.

The Rev. Neelley Hicks, Pastor Ingrid McIntyre and their companion the Rev. Jeannie Alexander attended a committee meeting at which legislators considered a proposal from State Representative Rick Staples of Knoxville to replace the Forrest bust with one honoring other notable citizens from his part of the state.

According to WBIR Channel 10, the bust commemorating the fierce Confederate general and founder of the white supremacist organization has been a source of controversy in Tennessee for many years. The sculpture in the State Capitol is among 32 other Tennessee monuments, including a state park, that are named for Gen. Forrest. Rep. Staples’ resolution cited the sculpture as a “divisive” issue.

Despite the controversial history and the current push to relocate Confederate memorials, a legislative committee voted down Rep. Staples’ proposal June 17, claiming the state didn’t have the $3,500 necessary to replace the bust. The vote split along party lines, with 11 Republicans voting against the measure and five Democrats voting in favor, WBIR reported.

Immediately after the vote, Rev. Hicks, wearing a clerical collar, stood up in the legislature’s balcony and proclaimed, “I bring good news! I am Rev. Neelley Hicks and I have good news that we have the $3,500 needed to move the statue.” Rev. Hicks explained to Insight that she was complaining that legislators didn’t want to use Tennessee’s $1 billion “rainy day” fund. “I was saying out loud that the clergy would’ve donated to have it moved to the museum,” she said.

Once she finished speaking, Rev. Hicks said, she and her companions began to recite The Lord’s Prayer. They were ordered to cease by the committee chair. When they didn’t stop praying, armed state troopers were told to remove them. Upon saying “Amen,” Rev. Hicks was asked to leave and complied, escorted out along with three Black observers she hadn't met.

“When asked to leave, I did, and said to troopers on my way out 'This is sinful. This is wrong. God came to earth in a brown body. Forrest killed brown and black men. Your mama taught you better. Shame," she said in a Facebook post.

However, Pastor McIntyre and Ms. Alexander sat down in the balcony and had to be taken physically out of the chamber by state troopers. Pastor McIntyre also brought consecrated bread and juice to serve communion to state troopers that escorted the three women off Capitol grounds, but the troopers declined, Rev. Hicks said.

Her protest in the Legislature marked the first time she demonstrated in public against systemic racism in Tennessee, Rev. Hicks told United Methodist Insight in a telephone interview.

“I was invited by Pastor Ingrid, and there were other United Methodist clergy there, but they had to leave,” Rev. Hicks said. “Some people have told me that being a white woman of small stature I’m an atypical activist. One friend told me, ‘I can’t imagine what it was like for people on the floor to look up in the balcony and see this ‘angelic’ figure proclaiming good news.’”

An ordained deacon who serves at Glencliff United Methodist Church in Nashville, Rev. Hicks stressed that she wasn’t trying to erase Tennessee history. Instead, she wants to put the state’s racist history into a more educational context by moving the bust to a museum where Gen. Forrest’s actions can be documented. Among other actions, Gen. Forrest was held responsible for the massacre of Union troops who had surrendered, many of whom were black soldiers, at the Battle of Fort Pillow.

“We need people who inspire us all,” Rev. Hicks said. “We need to have a conversation [about systemic racism]. It’s not Democrat or Republican thing, it’s a ‘your will be done’ thing.”

“People just don’t see systemic racism,” the clergywoman continued. “We need to say, ‘look, it’s there.’

Rev. Hicks said her group’s bold moves at the Tennessee Legislature have convinced her that all United Methodists should become active in keeping watch on government. She cited this year’s 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the United States as reason enough for all United Methodist clergy and lay women to vote.

“I just used to vote, and now I realize that’s not enough; I want to organize,” Rev. Hicks said. “When you look at Dr. King and Gandhi, that’s how they worked, through movements and strikes. That’s how you wake up the establishment. It was way too easy to carry out two white women. What do we need to do next? We must amplify the voices not being heard.”

Rev. Hicks also stressed the legislature protest taught her that money plays too large a role in U.S. government.

“The collective moral conscience is oft forgot when budget is cast before committee, and ego turns to protectionism and care for those who cast votes in their favor and line their campaign coffers,” she wrote on Facebook.

“The cross once held a Man of color and people of faith remained silent. The Holy Spirit empowers us to speak now to gain everlasting life with two requirements: love neighbor as self and love God with heart, soul, mind and strength.”

Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011.