‘Haunted’ By History Of Racism, Red Sox Want Yawkey Way Name Change

[spookyturtle 9,465]

Where will it end? 

 

BOSTON (CBS) – Red Sox principal owner John Henry said the organization hopes to lead an effort to change the name of Yawkey Way due to the history of racism associated with previous owner Tom Yawkey.

WBZ-TV has confirmed a report by the Boston Herald where Henry said he is “haunted” by the legacy of Yawkey, who owned the team from 1933-1976.

 

Under Yawkey’s ownership, the Red Sox became the final team in Major League Baseball to integrate.

(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The Red Sox do not control the name of Yawkey Way, where Fenway Park is located. It is a public street.

But Henry told The Herald that the team wants to “take the lead” in convincing the city that a change is needed.

 

“But for me, personally, the street name has always been a consistent reminder that it is our job to ensure the Red Sox are not just multi-cultural, but stand for as many of the right things in our community as we can – particularly in our African-American community and in the Dominican community that has embraced us so fully,” Henry told The Herald.

 

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s office said Walsh is “supportive” of the change.

 

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/08/17/john-henry-red-sox-yawkey-way-change/

[IAMX 3,055]

Should rename Fenway Park to Yawkey Park. 

[eieio 1,594]

1 hour ago, spookyturtle said:

Where will it end? 

 

BOSTON (CBS) – Red Sox principal owner John Henry said the organization hopes to lead an effort to change the name of Yawkey Way due to the history of racism associated with previous owner Tom Yawkey.

WBZ-TV has confirmed a report by the Boston Herald where Henry said he is “haunted” by the legacy of Yawkey, who owned the team from 1933-1976.

 

Under Yawkey’s ownership, the Red Sox became the final team in Major League Baseball to integrate.

(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The Red Sox do not control the name of Yawkey Way, where Fenway Park is located. It is a public street.

But Henry told The Herald that the team wants to “take the lead” in convincing the city that a change is needed.

 

“But for me, personally, the street name has always been a consistent reminder that it is our job to ensure the Red Sox are not just multi-cultural, but stand for as many of the right things in our community as we can – particularly in our African-American community and in the Dominican community that has embraced us so fully,” Henry told The Herald.

 

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s office said Walsh is “supportive” of the change.

 

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/08/17/john-henry-red-sox-yawkey-way-change/

It will never end. The people who are upset about this will never be satisfied. For them...there will always be "something" that must go.

[Dashinka 24,488]

2 hours ago, spookyturtle said:

Where will it end? 

 

BOSTON (CBS) – Red Sox principal owner John Henry said the organization hopes to lead an effort to change the name of Yawkey Way due to the history of racism associated with previous owner Tom Yawkey.

WBZ-TV has confirmed a report by the Boston Herald where Henry said he is “haunted” by the legacy of Yawkey, who owned the team from 1933-1976.

 

Under Yawkey’s ownership, the Red Sox became the final team in Major League Baseball to integrate.

(Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

The Red Sox do not control the name of Yawkey Way, where Fenway Park is located. It is a public street.

But Henry told The Herald that the team wants to “take the lead” in convincing the city that a change is needed.

 

“But for me, personally, the street name has always been a consistent reminder that it is our job to ensure the Red Sox are not just multi-cultural, but stand for as many of the right things in our community as we can – particularly in our African-American community and in the Dominican community that has embraced us so fully,” Henry told The Herald.

 

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s office said Walsh is “supportive” of the change.

 

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2017/08/17/john-henry-red-sox-yawkey-way-change/

Considering how almost everyone can be offended by something, I doubt it will end.

[Steeleballz 7,550]

45 minutes ago, eieio said:

It will never end. The people who are upset about this will never be satisfied. For them...there will always be "something" that must go.

   The initiative is coming from the team owner. It's his prerogative. He can't change it unilaterally, so we'll see how much support he has.

 

   As a Red Sox fan, the team continues to have incidents of racism come up to this day, including a well known incident earlier this year. As a fan of the team, it's embarrassing to see other fans of the team act this way. I don't take it personally that a few morons support the same team I do, I condemn them for it when it happens. It's not a reflection of me, and I am happy for whatever steps the team takes to discourage that kind of behavior. I see a parallel to a few other scenarios there, but I don't want to derail the topic.

 

  All in all, I'm not sure changing a street name really does anything. I understand why the owner and team want to do it though, and the proposed new name, David Ortiz Way, does kind of have a ring to it.

[IAMX 3,055]

I can understand the RS owner's problem.. look at all the growing racism in MA..

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Massachusetts

[-Trinity- 513]

It's kind of sad to see this erasing of history. I understand that history is painful for some people, but it's not going to change by wiping out everything that reminds of what happened in the past. 

 

[IAMX 3,055]

Just now, Beachlover said:

It's kind of sad to see this erasing of history. 

I keep hearing about 1984 references and Orwellian since Trump got elected from a certain demographic..

 

I guess irony isn't merely a concept for jokes, it's a mantra.

[-Trinity- 513]

20 minutes ago, IAMX said:

I keep hearing about 1984 references and Orwellian since Trump got elected from a certain demographic..

 

I guess irony isn't merely a concept for jokes, it's a mantra.

Maybe the next step is to dig up the soldiers who died during the civil war and were on the "wrong side" to eradicate that they ever existed.

 

And then what? What happened still won't disappear, neither will it improve the lives of people today. 

[IAMX 3,055]

7 minutes ago, Beachlover said:

Maybe the next step is to dig up the soldiers who died during the civil war and were on the "wrong side" to eradicate that they ever existed.

 

And then what? What happened still won't disappear, neither will it improve the lives of people today. 

To be frank, it's because the left are upset they lost the election. They're looking for a "win" from anywhere they can find it, regardless of how childish and "Orwellian" it is. What's appalling to me is the lack of resistance to this sort of Orwellian fascism. I really hope people don't think that quietly letting these people have their way will result in them settling down. They're clearly emboldened by this to up the ante one step further each time they're not given a proverbial kick in the nuts. Eventually people are going to have to grow a spine, and it might result in violence, given that's the only way certain people see approaching things they disagree with.

Edited August 21, 2017 by IAMX

[Steeleballz 7,550]

6 minutes ago, Beachlover said:

Maybe the next step is to dig up the soldiers who died during the civil war and were on the "wrong side" to eradicate that they ever existed.

 

And then what? What happened still won't disappear, neither will it improve the lives of people today. 

 

   The street was only named Yawkey Way in 1977, the year after Yawkey passed away. I'm not sure it's an integral part of Boston's history, but it's more closely linked with the Red Sox. For much of Boston's history, it was part of Jersey street.

[Steeleballz 7,550]

9 minutes ago, IAMX said:

To be frank, it's because the left are upset they lost the election. They're looking for a "win" from anywhere they can find it, regardless of how childish and "Orwellian" it is. What's appalling to me is the lack of resistance to this sort of Orwellian fascism. I really hope people don't think that quietly letting these people have their way will result in them settling down. They're clearly emboldened by this to up the ante one step further each time they're not given a proverbial kick in the nuts. Eventually people are going to have to grow a spine, and it might result in violence, given that's the only way certain people see approaching things they disagree with.

 

   Watch the tantrums, please. It's unbecoming.

Edited August 21, 2017 by Steeleballz

[-Trinity- 513]

3 minutes ago, Steeleballz said:

 

   The street was only named Yawkey Way in 1977, the year after Yawkey passed away. I'm not sure it's an integral part of Boston's history, but it's more closely linked with the Red Sox. For much of Boston's history, it was part of Jersey street.

Ok, fair enough. I mistakenly linked the removal of statues to this event. But in a sense they are linked. I personally believe it's a mistake to remove statues and change names of places or streets.

 

 

 

 

[-Trinity- 513]

11 minutes ago, IAMX said:

To be frank, it's because the left are upset they lost the election. They're looking for a "win" from anywhere they can find it, regardless of how childish and "Orwellian" it is. What's appalling to me is the lack of resistance to this sort of Orwellian fascism. I really hope people don't think that quietly letting these people have their way will result in them settling down. They're clearly emboldened by this to up the ante one step further each time they're not given a proverbial kick in the nuts. Eventually people are going to have to grow a spine, and it might result in violence, given that's the only way certain people see approaching things they disagree with.

Sadly enough this will result in more tension and eventually violence.

Today I read somewhere that its allowed in Texas to shoot anyone who tries to vandalize or remove a statue.

In North Carolina drivers are allowed to drive through protesters. I'm thinking: is this really worth risking your life for?

Or is it maybe better to focus on appreciating what you have and improve your life by taking other actions?

 

Trump won the election, there is no way to get around that. I still can't believe America choose him off all the candidates , but it happened..period. Eventually he will finish his term and it will become clear whether he improved anything or not. And people can vote again. Adding to already existing tensions won't make things better.

[Steeleballz 7,550]

11 minutes ago, Beachlover said:

Ok, fair enough. I mistakenly linked the removal of statues to this event. But in a sense they are linked. I personally believe it's a mistake to remove statues and change names of places or streets.

 

 

 

 

 

   Having a street or other geographic feature named after someone is an honor, so I do think if it comes to light that someone is not deserving of that honor, removal should be an option.

 

   Yawkey, I think, was neither an important historical figure nor was he much different from most of the other owners of his day. Did he deserve to have a street named after him? Probably not. Neither does David Ortiz, but it happens. Does he deserve to have his name removed? IDK, maybe, but there are probably a lot of other streets named after worse people. 

 

   I don't know if it will happen or not, but I think this is mostly coming from the Red Sox organization. Incidents of alleged racism have been an ongoing issue for the team, and I feel like they just want to move on from the association. 

Edited August 21, 2017 by Steeleballz