Simon Elfrink
Staff Writer
On Tuesday, Sept. 1, Murray State Football Volunteer Assistant Coach Sherman Neal II spoke at a West KY NOW Facebook event called “NOW is the Time.”
The new event has been dubbed an “anti-racism” show by West KY NOW, a facet of the National Organization for Women. Neal’s appearance on the show came as a result of his recent fame regarding racial injustice and his opposition of Murray’s Confederate Monument, which stands at the corner of the courthouse square. Neal sent an open letter to the City Council on June 1, and the Council voted to send a petition to the Calloway County Fiscal Court, who unanimously voted to keep the monument.
Since the decision to leave the monument, which depicts the likeness of Robert E. Lee, Neal has gathered a large group of protestors who have felt as slighted by the statue as he has. On West KY NOW’s Facebook stream, Neal got the opportunity to speak to others who feel similarly about the monument.
Now that he has the opportunity to reach more people, Neal told viewers the importance of having an objective and a plan when trying to make a change. In the hour he had allotted to speak during “NOW is the Time,” Neal explained why he felt the need to take the monument down, and what it would take for it to be done.
Neal began by telling the audience a little about himself, his background and the impact his roles as a father, lawyer, coach and marine have all meant to him when it comes to shaping his beliefs.
Before becoming a coach, Neal spent several years in the Marine Corps, where he served as a Captain before receiving an honorable discharge after five years of service. Neal attributes his knowledge of seeing an operation through to completion to his time with the Marines.
“Before you embark on any type of project, before you wake up in the morning, walk out the door, the number one thing you need to know is who you are and what you believe in,” Neal said. “Everything that you do has to tie back to what the mission is, and the mission has to be clear.”
During a Q-and-A segment of the event, Neal mentioned how glad he was that the demonstration of protest outside the courthouse on Aug. 27 was peaceful, unlike many recent protests in major cities across the U.S.
Neal’s mission is to get the statue removed, but he won’t do so through any means necessary.
“The only objective for me is nobody gets hurt,” Neal said. “I was confident that it would be safe. Tactically, that was the objective. Everybody stayed for three consecutive hours and had it be peaceful. The fact that we did that for that long and had new people speak that I had never met before, with the confidence to do that, it was awesome.”
Neal said objectively he thought the march was successful, but tactically it might not have been as successful as he thought. Neal said in order for the monument to be removed, the Fiscal Court will have to take action and no matter how bad the people want the statue taken down, it simply is not up to them.
“You don’t see a lot of rich folks on either side of this,” Neal said. “You don’t see a lot of decision makers standing out there on Saturdays. I’m yet to see any of these people [who have the power to make the decision] engage in the discussions that we’re talking about at this operational level.”
Neal said he doesn’t think he and his followers will have to wait for a new fiscal court to get the monument taken down, but it will take some conversation with those with the power to decide where the movement goes from here.
Stay tuned as The News follows the story regarding the Robert E. Lee statue.
