Quote:"He made derogatory comments about Black people and Indigenous peoples that drew on deeply harmful racist stereotypes, though his views evolved later in his life," the environmental group said in an article posted on its website. "As the most iconic figure in Sierra Club history, Muir’s words and actions carry an especially heavy weight. They continue to hurt and alienate Indigenous people and people of color who come into contact with the Sierra Club."

The club said it was addressing Muir's racism in the spirit of reckoning with the past following protests over the death in police custody of George Floyd. In the wake of Floyd's death, numerous Confederate monuments have been taken down, as well as some statues of Christopher Columbus and Father Juniper Serra, another founding father of California.

"It’s time to take down some of our own monuments, starting with some truth-telling about the Sierra Club’s early history," the organization said. In addition to noting Muir's history, the post also said that two other club founders — Joseph Le Conte and David Starr Jordan — were white supremacists and that Jordan was a leading believer in eugenics.