Will Kansas City remove more monuments honoring racists? An official calls for a plan
A Kansas City councilwoman wants a plan for removing monuments and streets honoring figures who were slaveholders or racists, calling the move “just one thing that we can do to get us closer to reconciliation.”
Councilwoman Melissa Robinson, 3rd District, introduced legislation that would establish a 12-member commission to research and make recommendations to the City Council for removal of monuments of those “that held slaves, promoted racism or participated in the oppression and dehumanization of others.”
“I hope that one day that Kansas City will get to a place of reconciliation within the community as it relates to repairing the relationship with African Americans, people of color, other groups that have been marginalized in the city,” Robinson said. “In order to do that, you have to reflect deeply on what does the repair look like and you have to be able to be innovative around how is it that we can address these things.”
According to the legislation, the commission must have one member from each of the six City Council districts, a historian, three members representing local civil rights groups, a religious scholar and a representative of an Indigenous group.
The legislation comes as the U.S. faces a reckoning over its history of racism and division following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Across the country, governments, schools and other organizations are facing calls to remove statues and rename landmarks that celebrate Confederate leaders and racist historical figures.
In Kansas City, the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners voted unanimously to remove J.C. Nichols’ name from the fountain and roadway on the Country Club Plaza that honored him. Nichols developed the Plaza and used restrictive covenants to build white-only neighborhoods in Kansas City and Johnson County.
Jackson County Executive Frank White last month called for statues of President Andrew Jackson to be removed from the county’s two courthouses in Kansas City and Independence.
In a statement released at the time, White said the county wants and needs people to feel welcome at its public buildings.
“Yet, they are greeted by a man who owned hundreds of slaves, opposed the abolitionist movement and caused thousands of Native Americans to die when he forced them out of their homeland for white settlement,” White said. “As long as these statues remain, our words about fairness, justice and equality will continue to ring hollow for many we serve.”
In 2017, the city removed a monument from the median of Ward Parkway that honored “Loyal Women of the Old South.”
Robinson said she did not have specific streets or monuments she wanted to see changed. But a story in The Star last month pointed out that many of Kansas City’s major streets, including Wornall Road, McGee Street and Troost Avenue, were named after slaveholders.
The legislation was referred to committee and is expected to be heard next week.
