Minnesota Twins remove statue of former owner Calvin Griffith at Target Field over racist comments
MINNEAPOLIS - MAY 22: A statue of former Minnesota Twins owner Calvin Griffith stands outside Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins baseball team on May 22, 2015 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minnesota Twins said Friday they have removed the statue of Calvin Griffith at Target Field.
Griffith was the former owner of the Twins and was responsible for moving the franchise to Minnesota in 1961.
The statue was removed in part due to racist comments he made in Waseca in 1978, which the Twins said “displayed a blatant intolerance and disregard for the Black community that are the antithesis of what the Minnesota Twins stand for and value.”
“Our decision to memorialize Calvin Griffith with a statue reflects an ignorance on our part of systemic racism present in 1978, 2010 and today. We apologize for our failure to adequately recognize how the statue was viewed and the pain it caused for many people – both inside the Twins organization and across Twins Territory. We cannot remove Calvin Griffith from the history of the Minnesota Twins, but we believe removal of this statue is an important and necessary step in our ongoing commitment to provide a Target Field experience where every fan and employee feels safe and welcome,” the Twins said in a statement. “Past, present or future, there is no place for racism, inequality and injustice in Twins Territory.”