Opening of slavery exhibit at Faneuil Hall met with protests to change building's name
BOSTON - The opening of a new exhibit at Faneuil Hall on slavery in Boston was met with protests Friday, as people called on the building's name to be changed.
Faneuil Hall is named after Peter Faneuil, a Boston merchant who made his fortune by buying and selling enslaved people. Protesters say the exhibit doesn't belong in a building named after a known slaveowner and wanted the exhibit postponed until the name of Faneuil Hall is changed.
"So we consider this exhibit at this place an insult, a slap in the face to the Black community," said Rev. Kevin Peterson, of the New Democracy Coalition.
However, Mayor Michelle Wu said the building has deep ties to the city and that history should not be erased. "This building is on many, many national historic lists. The simple conversation about changing the name, we can have that conversation in the context of the larger work we have to do as a community," Wu said.
The exhibit, making its debut on Juneteenth weekend features enslaved Africans and Native Americans with ties to Boston.
Former Boston State Representative and civil rights activist Byron Rushing says he's not offended by the exhibit's location, saying erasing history isn't the answer.
"Simply taking the name off this building doesn't make us know more about the enslavers in Boston," Rushing said.
Members of the New Democracy Coalition have been calling for a name change for awhile. The founder said while he feels the exhibit is appropriate, it should be relocated from Faneuil Hall or canceled altogether.
Mayor Michelle Wu spoke with the group of protesters before she opened the slavery exhibit on Friday.
