A monument to a sports owner who needed to be forced to integrate his franchise in the mid-1960s has been removed from Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.
George Preston Marshall owned the Washington Redskins from the team’s inception in 1932 until his death in 1969 and was responsible for bringing the franchise, which began as the Boston Braves, to his hometown of Washington, D.C., in 1937.
Events DC, which is in charge of RFK Stadium, removed Brown’s monument on Friday morning as symbols of racism and hate across the country continue to be taken down amidst other varieties of societal change.
George Preston Marshall statute at RFK is being taken down this morning. Truck just arrived to haul it away. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/yQduC1eCU0
— Denise Rucker Krepp (@kdrkrepp) June 19, 2020
“This symbol of a person who didn’t believe all men and women were created equal and who actually worked against integration is counter to all that we as people, a city, and nation represent,” Events DC executives said in a joint statement explaining the removal. “We believe that injustice and inequality of all forms is reprehensible and we are firmly committed to confronting unequal treatment and working together toward healing our city and country.”
RFK Stadium opened in 1961 and was home to the Redskins until 1997. It is due to be knocked down in 2021.
In a similar move, the Minnesota Twins have removed a statue of former team owner Calvin Griffith at Target Field, citing racist remarks he made in 1978.
Explaining to a Waseca Lions club why he brought the Washington Senators to Minnesota to become the Twins for the 1961 season, Griffith said he made the move “when I found out you only had 15,000 blacks here.”
The Twins shared a statement on the removal of the statue of Calvin Griffith, the former team owner, from Target Field: "We cannot remain silent and continue ignoring the racist comments he made in Waseca in 1978." pic.twitter.com/sASfl4lp9f
— Bleacher Report MLB (@BR_MLB) June 19, 2020
“While we acknowledge the prominent role Calvin Griffith played in our history, we cannot remain silent and continue ignoring the racist comments he made in Waseca in 1978,” the Twins said in a statement Friday. “His disparaging words displayed a blatant intolerance and disregard for the black community that are the antithesis of what the Minnesota Twins stand for and value.”
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