Charles Barkley – Quit Worrying About Those ‘Stupid Statues’

The riots that marred an alt-right rally last weekend in Charlottesville have dominated the 24-hour news cycle. The rally was in reaction to the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in Emancipation Park in Charlottesville. Now a debate over removing statues throughout the country has gained traction. Former NBA great Charles Barkley recently said it was waste of time worrying about those “stupid statues”:

I’m not going to waste my time worrying about these confederate statues. That’s wasted energy … I’m going to keep doing great things. I’m going to keep trying to do keep trying to make a difference in the black community, number one because I’m black … I’m not going to waste my time screaming at a neo-Nazi who’s going to hate me no matter what. And I’m not going to waste my time worrying about these statues they’ve got all over the country.

I’ve always ignored them … I’m 54 years old. I’ve never thought about those statues a day in my life. I think if you ask most black people, to be honest, they’ve never thought a day in their life about those stupid statues. We need to worry about getting our education. We need stop killing each other. We need to find a way to have more economic opportunity.

The Shock Exchange could not agree more with Barkley. Though we are not opposed to removing statues, their removal should not overshadow what’s important to the black community – things like improving the labor participation rate, access to healthcare and creating more jobs for ourselves. If we do not do for ourselves then no one else will.

Baltimore Removes Statues In The Middle Of the Night

Removal of artifacts and mementos from the confederacy have been going on for some time now. In 2015 government officials removed the confederate flag from the South Carolina state house. The state removed the flag in response to the assassination of state senator Clementa Pinkney and eight others at Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Charleston, SC. Dillon Roof, who killed the senator, was reacting to Pinkney’s impassioned speeches on the senate floor for all state police to wear body armor. Pinkney’s speech was in reaction to the murder of Walter Scott , by South Carolina policemen Michael Slager. Scott who was unarmed, fled the scene after he was stopped by Slager for having a third tail light that was inoperable on his Mercedes Benz.

South Carolina’s action prompted state officials in Florida and Louisiana to remove confederate statues. Earlier this week the city of Baltimore, Md. removed four statues, including one of Robert E. Lee and General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson:

Baltimore removed four monuments to the pro-slavery Civil War Confederacy before dawn on Wednesday, working quickly so the city could avoid protests like the one organized by white nationalists that turned deadly in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The statues, including one of General Robert E. Lee and another of General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, were taken off their bases in Wyman Park Dell, beside the Baltimore Museum of Art, and carried away on a flatbed truck.

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said she and the city council decided to remove the monuments “quickly and quietly.”

“I think any city that has Confederate statues (is) concerned about violence occurring,” she told reporters.

Baltimore is used to having materials removed in the middle of the night. In March 1984 the Baltimore Colts stole away in the middle of the night. Colts owner Bob Irsay hired movers to pack up the team’s offices and move to Indianapolis, IN. One day Baltimore had a team and the next day it did not. Pursuant to Baltimore’s concern over violence surrounding the confederate statues, the violence in Charlottesville, VA was due to the removal Robert E. Lee’s statue, not its existence.

How the removal of Lee or Stonewall’s removal in Baltimore will help residents remains to be seen. Residents tend to look to the mayor to improve housing, create better community policing and create jobs. However, removing statues to give the illusion of progress appears to be a lot easier.

Shock Exchange Predicted Social Unrest In America

At the end of the day, African Americans are still reeling from the effects of the Financial Crisis of 2008. While big business swims in trillions of stimulus and bailouts from federal reserve and Obama administration, millions of blacks and working class citizens are still living from paycheck to paycheck. Shock Exchange: How Inner-City Kids From Brooklyn Predicted the Great Recession and the Pain Ahead predicted Obama’s failed policies would lead to social unrest America and now it’s here. The government and the mainstream media are now trying to shift the narrative to racism and confederate statues. The question remains, “Will blacks see the game within the game?”

On Shock Exchange

Shock Exchange: How Inner-City Kids From Brooklyn Predicted the Great Recession and the Pain Ahead explains the stock market and U.S. economy through the eyes of the New York Shock Exchange, a financial literacy program Ralph Baker started in 2006 to share his passion for investing and basketball with his 11-year-old son and other boys his age. The book predicts the “pain ahead” for the U.S. economy, the demise of China, the pending stock market crash and social unrest.

Shock Exchange has been trumpeted by President Obama, the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee. However, they conveniently forgot to cite the source. Critics try to make and unmake authors, but the market always decides. The book was also recently added to Trump Syllabus K12, crafted by Dr. Kaye Wise Whitehead of Loyola University Maryland. Shock Exchange is the best book on Wall Street in the past 20 years, and on economics, it may be the most important book since the Great Depression.