U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen said Tom Lee Day was an opportunity to reflect on where Memphis was and where it is now, in terms of race relations. When the initial monument to Lee was erected, it referred to him as “a worthy Negro” rather than simply a worthy man, Cohen said. Now, almost a century later, statues of Confederate generals in Memphis have been removed from public parks while the memorial to Lee is being enhanced.
“Nathan Bedford Forrest is gone, Jefferson Davis is gone and Tom Lee will be remembered as a hero,” he said. “And that’s the way it should be.”