NBA Hall of Fame player Charles Berkley spoke out about the recent push to remove Confederate statues, saying that worrying about it is "wasted energy," The Rouser reports.
In an interview with WRBC-TV’s Rick Karle is his home state of Alabama, Barkley said, "I’m not going to waste my time worrying about these confederate statues."
"You know what I’m going to do? I’m going to keep doing great things. I’m going to keep trying to make a difference, No. 1 in the black community because I’m black. But I’m also going to try to do good things in the world.
"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. I’ve always ignored them."
When asked what should be done with the statues, Barkley, who once considered running for governor of Alabama in 2014, said, "I’m 54-years-old. I’ve never thought about those statues a day in my life. If you ask most black people, they haven’t thought a day in their lives about those stupid statues."
Barkley ended with a call for unity, and for focus on important causes and not symbolic acts.
"What we as black people need to do is: we have to worry about getting our education," he said. "We need to stop killing each other. We need to try to find ways to have more economic opportunity. Those things are important and significant."
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