Photo: Karyn Regal / WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — On Wednesday, more than a dozen protestors sat in the middle of Quincy Market, chanting for officials to change the name of the nearby Faneuil Hall.
The group who organized the demonstration, the New Democracy Coalition, told WBZ's Karyn Regal the man the Boston landmark is named after was a slave owner.
"We're here to change the name of Faneuil Hall because we believe that a publicly-owned building should not be named after a slave owner. Peter Faneuil is not a person that we should uphold as virtuous, as a person that has honored the idea of democracy and freedom," Reverend Kevin Peterson of the NDC said.
NDC shared a call to action on Twitter, saying that "the majority of Bostonians now oppose the name of Faneuil Hall."
The protestors wearing black shirts that read "change the name," marched from Quincy Market to Faneuil Hall with some turning their backs on it.
"It may be a long time before Boston decides to change the name of this, but at least now they have people thinking about it," Rodney Johnson of Virginia said.
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According to the Faneuil Hall Marketplace's website, Peter Faneuil was Boston's wealthiest merchant during his time and built the Hall as a gift to the city.
WBZ's Karyn Regal (@Karynregal) reports.
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