Mayor: Yawkey name change no guaranteed home run on race
Yawkey Way is going, going, gone, but city officials have no timeline for when the street signs will officially come down — and Mayor Martin J. Walsh said renaming will not solve the city’s issues with racism.
The city’s five-member Public Improvement Commission voted unanimously yesterday to change the name of the road — renamed for Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey in 1976 — back to its original name of Jersey Street at the behest of the Red Sox.
The Public Improvement Commission, which is made up of public works officials appointed by Walsh, is the body that approves street name change requests. Any proposed change must come with the approval of 100 percent of property owners on the street and are nearly always approved.
City officials said they did not have a timeline for replacing the street signs on the roadway, saying new signs need to be created and other city agencies need to be officially notified. Walsh said he was neither pleased nor displeased with the change and that officials and organizations like the Red Sox need more “collaboration and conversation” to substantially address racism.
“Making a symbolic gesture, naming a street or not naming a street, I don’t know if that’s actually an answer to things,” Walsh said.
Current owner John Henry said last year he was “haunted” by Yawkey’s name because of the team’s failure under Yawkey’s leadership to integrate until 1959 — 12 years after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The name change brought significant opposition from some community members and the Yawkey Foundations, which were set up by Tom Yakwey’s wife, Jean, and have donated more than $450 million to charities over several decades.
“Today’s vote is an important step in our ongoing effort to make Fenway Park a place where everyone feels welcome,” Red Sox ownership said in a statement. “We recognize we have a long way to go, but remain committed to building a spirit of diversity, inclusivity and openness within our front office and our ballpark.
In a statement, Yawkey Foundations leaders said they were “deeply disappointed” with the renaming.
“The drastic step of renaming the street, now officially sanctioned by the City of Boston (and contradicting the honor the City bestowed upon Tom Yawkey over 40 years ago), will ... unfairly tarnish his name,” the statement reads. “This a sad day for all of us at the Foundations. Tom Yawkey deserved to have his name live on at Fenway Park.”