Ask Events DC to Remove the Marshall Monument
Friends and allies: a monument right outside the iconic RFK stadium where the pro football team used to play continues to celebrate Washington football team founder George Preston Marshall (GPM), an avowed segregationist. GPM battled for his club to remain the last ‘all white’ organization in major US sports. This monument remains a tribute to Jim Crow and racial segregation. The word R*dskin is a dictionary defined racial slur and it appears on this monument in three places.
We invite you to join us in asking Events DC, the convention and sports authority that manages RFK stadium, to remove this outdated structure. You can assist by calling Events DC at 202 608-1100. You can also email Gregory O’Dell, President and CEO of Events DC at [email protected]. Let’s remind our leaders that racism has no place in DC sports!
Background
Marshall challenged the NAACP, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Jackie Robinson, while defending his ‘white only’ hiring policy. Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall, threatened to void the team’s lease for the brand new DC Stadium, unless GPM rescinded his segregationist employment policies. The Federal government essentially forced GPM to integrate the Washington football team in 1962, but the harmful effects still linger. The GPM monument was erected within eight years of the defeat of GPM’s segregationist policy. Marshall’s campaign would become known as the final battle to uphold racial segregation in the United States’ major, professional sports leagues. The GPM monument is a relic of racism and must be removed at once!
The Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Washington football team have officially declined recent Events DC offers to accept the monument. Political leaders in the towns where Marshall was born and buried have also said ‘no thanks’. Shopping this monument to a willing taker is not an appropriate course of action. Relocation costs should not be the burden of DC tax payers. An offer to privately fund the on-site demolition of the monument was declined by EventsDC in 2017. At this time we know no other course of action aside from public pressure. We ask you to join us.
Friends and allies: a monument right outside the iconic RFK stadium where the pro football team used to play continues to celebrate Washington football team founder George Preston Marshall (GPM), an avowed segregationist. GPM battled for his club to remain the last ‘all white’ organization in major US sports. This monument remains a tribute to Jim Crow and racial segregation. The word R*dskin is a dictionary defined racial slur and it appears on this monument in three places.
We invite you to join us in asking Events DC, the convention and sports authority that manages RFK stadium, to remove this outdated structure. You can assist by calling Events DC at 202 608-1100. You can also email Gregory O’Dell, President and CEO of Events DC at [email protected]. Let’s remind our leaders that racism has no place in DC sports!
Background
Marshall challenged the NAACP, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and Jackie Robinson, while defending his ‘white only’ hiring policy. Secretary of the Interior, Stewart Udall, threatened to void the team’s lease for the brand new DC Stadium, unless GPM rescinded his segregationist employment policies. The Federal government essentially forced GPM to integrate the Washington football team in 1962, but the harmful effects still linger. The GPM monument was erected within eight years of the defeat of GPM’s segregationist policy. Marshall’s campaign would become known as the final battle to uphold racial segregation in the United States’ major, professional sports leagues. The GPM monument is a relic of racism and must be removed at once!
The Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Washington football team have officially declined recent Events DC offers to accept the monument. Political leaders in the towns where Marshall was born and buried have also said ‘no thanks’. Shopping this monument to a willing taker is not an appropriate course of action. Relocation costs should not be the burden of DC tax payers. An offer to privately fund the on-site demolition of the monument was declined by EventsDC in 2017. At this time we know no other course of action aside from public pressure. We ask you to join us.
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