A statue of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese of the Brooklyn Dodgers that stands outside of the Single A Brooklyn Cyclones stadium in Coney Island has been defaced by vandals, according to reports.
For photos of the statue and the vandalism of it click here.
The statue depicting an iconic moment in race relations in the United States was covered in swastikas and racial slurs. This monument is of Reese, then a Dodgers fan favorite and shortstop with his arm around Robinson in the face of shocked fans.
At the time, Robinson was the only African American player in all of baseball, and endured severe racism in the form of threats, vile insults, and even violence on the diamond from opposing players. He even experienced racism within his own clubhouse, something that the popular Reese hoped to quell by throwing his support behind the embattled baseball player.
That was far from the message the vandals wanted to push across. Scrawled on the base of the monument were phrases like "Hile Hitler," "Die N----r," and "F-k Jackie Robinson and all n----rs." The New York Daily News is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone whose information leads to the capture of the people responsible for the hateful acts.
Ralph Branca, one of the few teammates of Robinson's still alive, expressed dismay at the cruel words and actions. "I have no idea why anyone would do that," Branca said. "The statue signified a great moment in American history."
New York Senator Chuck Schumer also verbally whipped the people responsible for defacing the statue.
"I hope you're punished for what you did because what [you] did put a dagger in the heart of what America is all about," Schumer said. "That there are still people who don't understand what Jackie Robinson stood for in his grace, and his strength and the beautiful person he was and to try and deface him, defame him by defacing this statue is just an act of . . . it's beyond words to me," he added.
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