Jackie Robinson Statue Rededicated After Being Wiped Clean of Anti-Semitic Slurs
The Coney Island statue depicting Jackie Robinson was rededicated in a special ceremony on Monday, the New York Daily News reported.
Earlier this month, the statue had been covered in racist graffiti and anti-Semitic slurs, which the city Parks Department has since removed. The vandals have not been found, and a $50,000 reward has been offered for any information, including $10,000 by the Daily News itself.
The statue also depicts Brooklyn Dodger teammate Pee Wee Reese putting his arm around Robinson, who became first black player in Major League Baseball in 1947.
The Unity Day events at MCU Park in Coney Island surrounding the rededication were hosted by the Brooklyn Cyclones.
“In an odd way, perhaps something positive has come out of this,” Steven Cohen, Cyclones general manager told the Daily News. Cohen added that thousands had descended into the area in the past couple of weeks to show their opposition to the hateful messages.
A Cyclones doubleheader against the Staten Island Yankees followed the ceremony, ending with a free screening of “42,” this year’s biopic about Robinson starring Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30