Formerly teammates on the field, currently teammates in the battle against racial injustice, DeAndre Hopkins and Deshaun Watson connected on social media over night on Monday to apply significant pressure to their alma mater, Clemson University. The issue at hand is the removal of a statue of slave-owning Antebellum icon John C. Calhoun.
Cardinals wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins started by sending a link to a 2019 Change.org petition to have the statue removed. The petition had momentum when it first began but had died down, Hopkins breathed new life into the issue on Monday, adding his personal plea, as well as several stark quotes from Calhoun that can leave no doubt about the character of the man.
As you can plainly read, Calhoun was an obvious bigot and a practitioner and defender of slavery. Clemson University was built on Calhoun’s plantation, and the school’s website clearly celebrates the man’s history.
The bio page on the Clemson University website directly summarizes Calhoun’s beliefs on slavery with the conclusion that: ‘Undeniably, Calhoun was an ardent believer in white supremacy.” It’s an issue to take a statue to this man down for what reason again?
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The pair of former Clemson football superstars didn’t play together at the University, with Deshaun Watson showing up a few years after Hopkins had departed for the NFL, but they would play together with the Houston Texans for three seasons before Hopkins was traded this off-season. Watson connected with his former star receiver one last time on Monday.
Clemson University should not honor slave owner John C. Calhoun in any way. His name should be removed from all University property and programming. I am joining the students, faculty & DeAndre to restart this petition to rename the Calhoun Honors College.https://t.co/GdhtCZKFnZ
— Deshaun Watson (@deshaunwatson) June 9, 2020
What is it with the South and these monuments to bigotry and intolerance? Does anyone down there even know which side won the Civil War? It sure as hell seems not sometimes, with the statues of racist rebellious generals and politicians dotting the southern landscape. Since when do the conquered get to keep the statues of their heroes anyway?
Predictably, the internet is weighing in on both sides, with more than enough ignorant bigots from the South, but also the North, East and West, chiming in to tell the athletes what they’re supposed to think and where it’s appropriate for them to express it. Hopefully a lot more people silently clicked their link to the petition, signed their name and joined the right side of history.
I’m going to miss watching this duo work together on the field:
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