.... A photograph that was reincarnated by Mother Jones magazine, snapped by Sports Illustrated photographer Neil Leifer back in 1961, shows that Washington’s NFL team was a favorite among American Nazis. In 1961, a group of men marched with swastikas on their arms in protest of the integration of black players onto Washington’s NFL team. Until then, the D.C. franchise was White Only. One of the signs they held says, “Mr. Marshall, Keep Redskins White!” At the time, George Preston Marshall’s Redskins were the last all-white team in the NFL. Another sign said, “Integration is not Black And White. It’s Red.” More than 50 years later, the team’s current owner, Dan Snyder, is fighting to keep the racial slur as its logo. In its article, Mother Jones recounts Marshall’s past: The struggle to integrate Washingtons football team is recounted in Thomas G. Smiths 2012 book, Showdown: JFK and the Integration of the Washington Redskins. As Smith tells it, the showdown began in 1961, when John F. Kennedys interior secretary, Stewart Udall, whod committed to ending segregation anywhere in his sphere of influence, declared his intent to break pro footballs last color bar. Udall later recalled, I considered it outrageous that the Redskins were the last team in the NFL to have a lily-white policy. indiancountrytodaymedianetwork/2013/11/12/heil-redskins-photo-recalls-racism-nfl-teams-first-owner-152204
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 00:40:29 +0000
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