Nashville Mayor David Briley has unveiled a plan to honor African American union soldiers who fought in the Civil War.
He aims to create a monument at Fort Negley, a fort that was built in 1862 by more than 2,700 slaves who went on to fight on the side of the Union 2 years later.
Of those 2,700 African Americans that were forced to help build the fort, only 300 of them were actually paid for their work but almost 800 of them died. Many of them are buried under the park.
At the press conference where he announced this plan, Mayor Briley said the following:
“Our country, our city has never really done what is necessary to acknowledge the sacrifices of the slaves in our country, to atone for what is and will be a great scar on our nation’s history, or to take steps toward reconciliation,”