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On Wednesday night, a group of protesters at Fenway Park hung a “Racism is as American as Baseball” sign from the Green Monster at Fenway Park during a game between the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics.
The group was quickly removed from the ballpark by security, but no arrests were made.
It was a strong statement condemning racism and reminding people both things are deeply ingrained in our culture. Despite that, there were boos from the crowd and plenty of people who seemed unable to grasp the message or those who simply wanted to ignore it.
The Red Sox couldn’t ignore the banner, so they issued a statement.
“During the fourth inning of tonight’s game, four fans unfurled a banner over the left-field wall in violation of the club’s policy prohibiting signs of any kind to be hung or affixed to the ballpark,” a Red Sox spokesperson said. “The individuals involved were escorted out of Fenway Park.”
One of the protesters who was removed from the stadium spoke with CSN New England to explain what their message was.
Boston ANTIFA takes responsibility for banner at #Fenway, hear from the group, Sox fans, and the team on @7News this morning pic.twitter.com/hrnqke8aon
— John Cuoco (@JCuocoNews) September 14, 2017
“We want to remind everyone that just as baseball is fundamental to American culture and history, so too is racism,” an email statement read, according to CSNNE.com. “White people need to wake up to this reality before white supremacy can truly be dismantled. We urge anyone who is interested in learning more or taking action to contact their local racial justice organization.”
The protester said that Fenway security handled the issue appropriately and that there were no problems — outside of other fans screaming at them — as they exited the ballpark.
Fenway Park has a long history of racism, with opposing players hearing racial slurs shouted from the crowd, so the protesters picked a perfect spot to deliver their message loud and clear. Unfortunately, it likely fell upon deaf ears to those who needed the message the most.
Let’s look at this all as a modern-day Rorschach test.
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