Tampa Sports Teams Finance Removal Of Confederate Monument
The Tampa Bay Rays, Tampa Bay Lightning and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have joined forces to finance the removal of the Memoria In Aeterna, a confederate statue outside of the Hillsborough County Courthouse.
[Read Also: Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh Orders Removal Of 4 Confederate Monuments (Video)]
Via NY Times:
In a joint statement, the Tampa Bay Rays, Lightning and Buccaneers said Thursday that they had donated an unspecified sum to take down a memorial in front of the old Hillsborough County courthouse, which depicts two Confederate soldiers on either side of an obelisk. The monument “does not reflect the values of our community,” the teams said.
The teams’ donation was part of a surge that came a day after county commissioners voted to give fund-raisers 30 days to raise $140,000 — about half of the amount needed to relocate the memorial to a cemetery in suburban Brandon. The commissioners voted about a month ago to move the memorial.
Efforts to remove monuments or flags connected with the Confederacy have intensified over the last few years in places like St. Louis and New Orleans and in Charlottesville, Va., where a white nationalist rally Saturday turned into a bloody clash that resulted in the death of a counterprotester.
Although professional athletes frequently comment on and sometimes get involved in political matters it was unusual for a city’s professional teams to take such a stand. “Now more than ever before, we must stand united and committed to diversity and inclusion as we all attempt to heal from the tragedy in Charlottesville,” the teams’ statement said.
Tampa Bay stand up!
