The recent protests across the United States haven’t just caused people to think critically about topics like systemic racism and police brutality. In many places, individuals have called on the rest of the country to consider the past by reigniting old conversations about the role of things of and related to the Confederate States of America.
While this has manifest itself in the world of sports via NASCAR banning the Confederate flag at races, numerous other Americans have done everything they can to remove monuments honoring the Confederacy and its leaders. One such person is Ja Morant, who wrote a letter to the mayor of Murray, Kentucky about a monument in the town that features Confederate general Robert E. Lee.
Former Murray State point guard and current Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant has weighed in on the Confederate statue in the downtown courtsquare of Murray, Ky. pic.twitter.com/77oaSfmcmq
— Edward Alan Marlowe (@dreamarlowe85) June 13, 2020
“As a young Black man, I cannot stress enough how disturbing and oppressive it is to know the city still honors a Confederate war general defending white supremacy and hatred,” Morant wrote in his letter. He also mentioned the current moment in the United States and how it is making it “necessary” for action to occur, saying “we can’t change the culture of racism unless we change the celebration of racism.”
Morant, the No. 2 pick of the 2019 NBA Draft by the Memphis Grizzlies, attended college in Murray as a member of the Murray State Racers. The monument in question has stood in the town since 1917.
