He ‘stood for hatred’: Kansas City leaders push to rename J.C. Nichols fountain, road
For more than a week, Kansas Citians gathered to protest police brutality and racism — and they did so near a fountain bearing the name J.C. Nichols, whose racist housing practices helped perpetuate segregation across the city.
Now, the city will consider removing Nichols’ name from both the fountain and parkway on the Country Club Plaza.
Chris Goode, a member of the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners, asked his colleagues in a letter last week to consider renaming both. He wrote that he had been in pain seeing the killings of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery and felt compelled to act.
“The time has come for us to stop turning a blind eye towards racism of the past and present,” Goode wrote. “There is no immediate resolution to racism, that of which has been embedded for over 400 years into the fabric of this country. We can, however, make a collective decision to simply do the right thing now.”
Mayor Quinton Lucas said in a statement Tuesday he would “fully support” the effort.
“No person accelerated white flight, redlining, and racial division in the Kansas City area more than J.C. Nichols,“ Lucas said. “The time has long passed that we remove Kansas City’s memorials to his name.”
In an interview with The Star, Goode said Arbery’s killing hit him especially hard as a fellow black man and runner. Arbery was shot by a white father and son in February while running through their neighborhood in Georgia. Gregory McMichael and Travis McMichael were charged in May after a video of the killing went viral.
“What makes me any different? I’m educated. I’m articulate. I know how to navigate,” Goode said. “But I’m no different. I’ve learned how to walk on the street and make my presence less intimidating. It’s just my norm. I know how to open my hands, smile — ‘Hey, I’m friendly.’ I shouldn’t have to do that. I shouldn’t have to do that.”
J.C. Nichols developed the Country Club Plaza and affluent neighborhoods in Kansas City and surrounding suburbs, using restrictive covenants to bar blacks, Jews and other ethnic groups from purchasing or occupying the homes. In recent years, the covenants remained — though unenforceable — in the rules of many homeowners associations.
“There is no good reason why in the confines of our city that we love and that we know is such a hidden gem … that we would openly — openly — illuminate and celebrate people that stood for hatred, that stood for racism, that stood for separation,” Goode said in an interview Friday.
Goode suggested that the J.C. Nichols fountain be renamed the Dream Fountain and that the parkway be renamed to honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. But he is more concerned with removing Nichols’ name. The city will also take comments from the public.
Last year, the City Council voted to rename The Paseo to honor King, but residents voted to revert to the original name in a citywide ballot initiative. Proponents argued they didn’t object to naming a street for King — just not The Paseo, which they said has its own rich local history.
After the vote, the city began taking suggestions for other landmarks that could be renamed to honor King. The comment period ended in mid-February, and the department scheduled public hearings. The first was supposed to be held March 25, but was canceled because of the spread of coronavirus, the parks board secretary, Karmen Houston, said in an email.
In his letter, Goode said he had informed his fellow commissioners of the proposal, but he was not sure how much support he had.
The parks department announced in a press release Tuesday evening that it would hold two public comment sessions over the next month before the board votes. Houston said details would be worked out by the end of the week.
This story was originally published June 10, 2020 at 11:09 AM.
