The Knoxville News-Sentinel from Knoxville, Tennessee • 15

KHOXNEWSCOM I WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 27 2017 I ISA1 mori JACK McELROY Executive Editor ls NVAvIllEA 5jy7 (SKd? TWkT aIa? K' I t1 I i i C17) Contributions Letters should be less than 300 words and are subject to editing We urge our regular letter writers to limit their submissions to one per month Letters must include the author's full name daytime phone number and home address only name and hometown will be published Email to: letters9knoxnewscom LETTERS Republicans favor rich over poor US Sen Oirin Hatch R-Utah matte a remarkable statement when he said reason CHIP (the Health Insurance Program) is having trouble is harannp we have money anymore" We have any money to take care of our children? What a statement While Hatch and his Republican colleagues lavish millions of dollars of tax breaks on the wealthiest the poor are left to scrounge for themselves If die old Republican playbook: Bankrupt the government by not collecting taxes then eliminate programs that support the poor Who knows Medicare and Social Security may be next we have money anymore And then the headline "UT coach search cost millions" How does all of this fit together? Especially at this time of year? Alfred Wohlpart Oak Ridge Alexander disappoints on public education US Sen Lamar Alexander is waging a war against public education He forced the confirmation of Betsy De-Vos fin education secretary supported a tax plan that punishes universities to give handouts to corporations and endorses Mick Zais a man who believe children younger than5 can learn for deputy secretary of education During the DeVos confirmation hearing local offices were flooded with protesters his telephone lines jammed and countless appeals were posted on social media to not support her nomination but he refused to even meet with any of DeVos1 detractors Confronting the true history of Forrest the slave trader Your Turn Timothy Huebner Guest columnist At the comer of Adams and BB King in Downtown Memphis a sign marks the site of Nathan nrid antebellum home "Frflowing marriage in 1B45" die marker states "he came to Memphis where his business enterprises made him What the sign neglects to mention is that his home stood adjanent to his business enterprise slave yard Before the Civil War cotton and slavery became the lynchpins of the southern economy During the 1840s and LB50s the profitability of cotton cultivation drew increasing numbers of white settlers to the states of the Old Southwest Mississippi Alabama wiiirianii and Twrea Because Congress had banned the Importation nf African slaves in 1808 cutting off the external supply of labo white landowners in these newly settled areas sought to purchase enslaved people from other parts of the South An abundance of slaves in Virginia North Carolina and Kentucky thus met increasing demand for labor as traders bought the enslaved for low prices before transporting and selling them farther south at a profit 1 In 1826 Tennessee had legally prohibited bringing in slaves "for the purpose of selling them or disposing of them articles of merchandise within this state But by 1855 bowing to economic realities the legislature repealed the ban Starting that year Memphis emerged as a regional hub foT human cargo In addition to die more than 3000 enslaved people who lived and worked in Memphis at the trow thnmuiTiHq more flowed into and out of the city Adams Avenue -known as Adams Street at the time -lay at the center of the Memphis trade In 1855 the city directory listed eight slave dealers in town Forrest operated one of these slave yards He first became involved in the slave trade in the 18401 while living in Hernando Miss IBs other ventures included a mercantile and livery stable business a stagecoach line and a brickyard But as trafficking in humans hecanw more lucrative Forrest devoted more attention to the business In 1852 Forrest moved to Memphis where he apparently joined forces with SS Jones the first of three business partners during his slave-trading career Two years later in 1B54 Forrest purchasedakrt on Adams between Second and Third just east of the alley be-hind Calvary Episcopal Church which had been hunt a decade before The lot which Forrest purchased for $4500 ran 63-feet 9-inches along Adams and stretched M8K-feet deep It included brick For the next several years that plot of ground on Adams served as the major slave trading site in Memphis The 1855 dty directory listed Forrest as operating his slave mart there 87 Adams while he had his residence at an adjacent address 85 Adams at the same location Although his business probably resembled those of other traders in town Forrest appeared unique in his willingness to engage in the smuggling of Africans into the United States in violation of federal law Several sources confirm that in 1859 Forrest sold seven Africans from the at his yard Forrest and others made a lot of money in the slave trade Although popular lore has held that society looked down upon antebellum human trafficking recent historical scholarship argues the opposite that traders were well-connected businessmen rather than social pariahs In 1858 in fact FOrrest became a dty aldermaii In 1861 secession and wartime upheaval disrupted the slave trading business and Forrest went off to fight for the Confederacy Eventually emancipation and Union victory prevailed Few Memphians know this history so for the past three months students in my Historical Methods class at Rhodes College have been researching and writing about slavery and the slave trade in Memphis Students have researched business operations by examining the records of the Bolton Dickens slave trading firm the only dealership for which financial records survive They have reviewed bills of sale and census records to understand enslaved exploitation in the trade And they have pored over runaway ads and police records to understand black resistance Working with Calvary Episcopal Church the lynching Sites Project of Memphis and the Tennessee Civil War National Heritage Area my students and I are writing the text for an additional historic marker to be placed at the site of Forrest's slave yard The current marker refers to house and "business practices but we will tell a more complete story Timothy Huebner is the Sternberg Professor of History at Rhodes College Zais has foiled to recall his past positions regarding early childhood education as a waste of taxpayer dollars He repeatedly praised charter school initiatives but when confronted with studies that shows charter schools can be detrimental to student achievement Zais admitted most of his knowledge in this area was anecdotal While education superintendent for South Carolina he declined millions in classroom funds for purely political reasons He cut special education funding so much he incurred a $36 million dollar penalty from the Department of Education Alexander places our public educational system in the hands of people who want to dismantle it Alexander has betrayed the University of Tennessee an institution he once ran shown he supports placing long-term economic growth at risk for a short-term reward from companies and lobbyists Alexander represents us We have a duty to hold him accountable He deserves credit for his work on health care but this occurred only after intense public pressure from his constituents We need to do the same to protect public education Charles Smith Knoxville New year will bring big state political races Frank Cagle Columnist would have hurt But Congress still passed the budget produced by committee House Speaker Beth Harwell has an enviable record of balancing the budget while cutting state taxes Who wins Middle Tennessee Black or Harwell? Randy Boyd has locked up support from city and county mayors and party leaders but is he well known and supported by the average East Tennessee voter? Will Tennessee elect a wpman to the US predict that US Rep Marsha Blackburn will win the Republican nomination which normally that would be enough to put her in the seat But the emergence of former Democratic Gov Phil redesen as her opponent is an unknown at this point One factor not considered is that Blackburn will have to spend a lot of her money in the primary while Bredesen has a clear field as well as enough personal wealth to self-fund Will the national Republicans cough up the money necessary to keep Blackburn competitive? Black seems to have the edge in name recognition Boyd or Harwell or both had better go at her early and take the fight to her or they will be left behind Gentility and TV ads get it done Black has a record in Congress which has a favorability rating just above malaria If Boyd and Harwell able to go toe to toe they deserve to be governor something you have to earn Frank Cagle is a columnist and former managing editor of the News Sentinel He may be reached at efrankcagle3)yahoacom This tumultuous year has come to an end and when we turn the comer into 2018 things are going to get cranked up and political junkies and television ad salesmen will be beside themselves Forget recent polls and the prelims the campaigns will begin in February The story lines in Knox County will include courthouse veterans trying for new jobs against fresh faces two top lawmen battling for sheriff and electing a member of Congress who is not named Duncan But the two statewide races will draw the most attention and considering the deep pockets of some of the candidates the air war will be fierce You will likely be sick of the ads come the end of the campaign season One of the narratives to watch in the race is the role of geography In recent years growth in the Nashville suburbs means there are more voters in Middle Tennessee than East Tennessee which used to be the largest voting bloc It may come down to which candidate can win West Tennessee which is not as populated but could be the difference maker Given that Congress finished on a high note it helps US Rep Diane Black Failure on the tax cut DILBERT SCOTT ADAMS MALLARD FILLMORE BRUCE TINSLEY mnii 'fl 4 'nf A.