They painted banners and even began their own website on the issue. The banner was paid for by Section 8, the Chicago supporters, painted in neutral colors to reflect the non-partisan nature of the effort.

Columbus will take the banner back to Crew Stadium now. The Fire play there on July 5th, and Section 8 will take back the banner then. Both sides are hoping at that time to get player signatures on the banner before the game.

Honestly, this is a great effort by the two groups. I would love to see more of the supporter groups from across MLS join in on this cause. Its simple, direct and most importantly it should be effective in the long run.

I believe Columbus has done a solid job after their little incident here to show that they aren’t all racists like some people out there believe they are. From my understanding the two sides got together after members from Chicago contacted members in Columbus to discuss this issue. The two sides then go together to do this, which is great.

(The banner is also in three languages; English, Polish, and Spanish.)