 Critics pointed to controversial aspects of Forrest's biography to argue he was an inappropriate namesake for the school.Most significantly they noted his background as a slave owner and trader; his possible role in the Fort Pillow Massacre, in which many black Union troops were killed; and especially the fact that he was an early leader in the Ku Klux Klan, being elected Grand Dragon in 1867.In the 21st century, the school was majority African-American, and many critics felt the name was a holdover of institutional racism.