Statues commemorating the Confederacy are being torn down across America as a result of racial unrest following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. But the largest monument in the country has been left out of the conversation: Stone Mountain monument in Georgia. The 42-foot-deep, 76-by-158 foot carving of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson sits on the face of the world’s largest piece of exposed granite. Removing it could require bitter political debate and a year-long demolition. But for most, the racist history it represents is too hard to ignore.
It’s become a stink at the U.S. Open: a pungent marijuana smell that wafted over an outer court, clouded the concentration of one of the world’s top players and left the impression there’s no place left to escape the unofficial scent of the city.