Grizzlies star Ja Morant has asked Calloway County officials to remove a Confederate monument in downtown Murray, where Morant attended college in Kentucky for two seasons before leaving for the NBA.
Morant, the No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft, asked Calloway County Judge Kenneth Imes to authorize the removal of a statue honoring Robert E. Lee originally erected in 1917.
“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,” Murray wrote in a letter submitted on Thursday.
“We can’t change the culture of racism unless we change the celebration of racism.”
There have been at least 15 Confederate monuments taken down throughout the south in the wake of George Floyd’s murder last month, including several torn down by protesters.
