The annual and biggest fundraiser of the Tennessee Democratic Party is called Jackson Day named after President Andrew Jackson. Jackson was an 1812 War Hero, the founder of the Democratic Party and from Tennessee. Jackson owned three plantations with hundreds of slaves and was a fierce anti-abolishionist. Jackson is mostly remembered for the forceful removal of tens of thousands of Native Americans from their homelands-the Trail of Tears-and he is the only U.S. President to defy a Supreme Court order which was the subject of the removal of the Cherokees. In 1831, the Cherokee Nation appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court and won, the State of Georgia refused to abide by the ruling and President Jackson refused to enforce the ruling; thus, opening up land for white settlers and more slave labor.
With such a poor history, why is Jackson the face of the biggest fundraiser for the Tennessee Democratic Party (TNDP)?
Rather than allowing unpleasant shadows of the past to affront Native Americans and African Americans, I wish the Party would consider renaming that day to something that more appropriately reflects the contemporary natures of our constituents and of our values. Alternatively, it could be a name that honors previous TNDP leaders, without reference to a single specific individual.