How Memphis took down its Confederate statues

When crews removed Confederate statues from two parks last week, it wasn't the first time such an effort was in place.

Two months earlier, Mayor Jim Strickland mobilized crews and cops, putting them on standby as he spoke to the state Historical Commission on Oct. 13. He hoped to convince the commission – meeting in Athens –  to take the formal route for dismantling the monuments of Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest and Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

But the commission thwarted that approach by rejecting the mayor's request, leading Strickland to take an alternative route.

As a councilman nearly five years ago, Strickland first noticed the legal loophole on which the city would build its case to remove Confederate monuments.

Strickland was in a February 2013 City Council meeting when he first read the newly-proposed Tennessee Heritage Protection Act, he recalled Thursday during an editorial board meeting at The Commercial Appeal. The act gave the new Historical Commission power to prevent removal of monuments on public property. But the law didn't forbid a city from selling the land and statues to a private entity, Strickland said.

"That has always kind of stuck with me throughout this time," Strickland said.

After Strickland took office in January 2016, he decided to follow the act's safer, less politically alienating process to remove a statue of Forrest from Health Sciences Park, intending to remove statues of Davis and war correspondent and Capt. J. Harvey Mathes from Fourth Bluff Park later.

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Strickland, at the urging of the National Civil Rights Museum and following several demonstrations at the parks, set April 4, 2018, the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in Memphis, as the target for removal of the statues.

After the state commission's decision in October, Strickland relied on the legal loophole in his back pocket, although for months he wouldn't publicly say whether he considered the sale of parks a legal option. Over the summer, City Attorney Bruce McMullen started discussions with Shelby County Commissioner Van Turner about Turner creating Memphis Greenspace Inc., the nonprofit that eventually bought the parks and statues.

Leaders of the Sons of Confederate Veterans have called the nonprofit a "sham," a front for the city, a characterization McMullen denies. But McMullen says he gave Turner advice about how to form the nonprofit — although Turner didn't follow all of his recommendations — and Strickland said the city steered donors to the nonprofit.

The trip to Athens was "surreal," McMullen said. The night before, the mayor's team ate at Ruby Tuesday — and sat next to Sons of Confederate Veterans spokesman Lee Millar. When they arrived at the commission meeting, a black man dressed in a Confederate uniform waved a flag out front and police swarmed the meeting.

"I felt like I was in a John Grisham book," McMullen said.

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The commission's denial stung, but rather than use the loophole, Strickland pursued two legal strategies. The city appealed the commission ruling in Davidson County Chancery Court on Dec. 11 while at the same time petitioning an administrative law judge to rule that the city doesn't need a waiver because its application was filed in 2016 when the Heritage Protection Act only applied to "war memorials." The legislature amended the act later in 2016 to also cover historical figures.

But a month ago, around Dec. 1, Strickland reached his limit. A mediation with the Sons of Confederate Veterans scheduled for that date was delayed, and the Sons didn't respond to a request to reschedule for Dec. 11 or 12. The mediation was eventually delayed to March, Strickland said. Also, the administrative law judge hearing scheduled for early November was postponed until Dec. 20, then delayed again until January.

Unlike the mayor, McMullen was not optimistic about the city's chances. He jokes that he's paid to be pessimistic. And as the city drew closer to MLK50, he added, the likelihood of a mess-free removal shrank.

"From my perspective, the sooner the better," McMullen said.

McMullen said the mayor sat down with him in late November and told him to start drawing up the paperwork to use the loophole and sell the parks and statues.

"If we had had the mediation set for this month, I don't think it would have happened," McMullen said of the sale.

Strickland signed the sale agreement with Memphis Greenspace on Friday, Dec. 15, contingent on City Council approval the Tuesday following. But a weather forecast for lighting and rain that night, led to a sudden recess of the council meeting.

On Wednesday, Dec. 20, the council approved an ordinance selling the parks and statues without letting the public know the ordinance's contents — an underhanded move that could factor into a lawsuit, according to the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

The ink from council chairman Berlin Boyd's signature was barely dry when McMullen rushed the ordinance upstairs for Strickland's signature. Over the next 10 minutes, Strickland signed the ordinance, McMullen made the call that put the crane in motion and Chief Operations Officer Doug McGowen made the call to launch the police blitz.

Strickland's team watched from the mayor's conference room overlooking the Mississippi River as police cars waiting on Bass Pro Drive charged up Jefferson Avenue to close the two parks, blue lights flashing. Meanwhile, the mayor was in his office making calls to state lawmakers and officials. His first call was to Gov. Bill Haslam, although Strickland declined to divulge the contents of the conversation.

Removing the statues wasn't a top priority — public safety takes that spot — but it was a priority, Strickland said. "We can walk and chew gum at the same time."

"When we put in new chair-back seats at the Liberty Bowl, no one said, 'Why are you doing that! Why don't you focus on violent crime?' And I specifically said the night the statues came down that our challenges remain. And my challenge to others is, stop talking about the problem and start being part of the solution."

He added: "It's easy to be a Facebook warrior. But nothing gets done."

Reach Ryan Poe at poe@commercialappeal.com and on Twitter at @ryanpoe.